# How loyal are you

Key Passage: 2 Samuel 15:13-16
Date: June 7, 2024

Second Samuel chapter 15. We have been going through the life of David for over a year. David was a great king in Israel, but I like it that the Bible tells us the bad, too.

Not because I want to know all the dirt, but we can learn from it. We are at the point of David’s life. He has been king for a while now. Someone said this to me this week, and I thought that is a pretty fair statement. They said they would have loved to be in David’s kingdom, but they would have hated to be part of David’s family.

He was a great king, but he lacked in the area of being a dad. It seems as he got older, he did a lot better job with Solomon, but there were just so many problems. We have discussed that already as far as a father. You remember Absalom? Absalom’s full sister was literally raped by her half-brother.

David did not do anything about it. So Absalom, two years later, he killed his half-brother, Amnon. Then Absalom ran to his grandfather in another country. Finally, through Joab and whatnot, Absalom got back in, but even then there was just a separation. David just seemed like he would not deal with some things with his kids. Absalom began to just—almost you can see—slowly began to go more and more the rebellious way. Eventually, he just became a rebel, a long-haired rebel, literally. We do not want to get ahead of ourselves, but eventually he gets killed in battle because there is long-haired, hung in a tree.

We are at the point now where this rebellious son is revolting against David, and he is taking the throne. We have been there for a couple weeks now. As we read through these stories, we are trying to glean some truths out of them, as we learn a little bit different on Wednesday nights. As we go through these different things, we are trying to learn some things from them.

Now, this is bad. We have some older people, and you look ready to go, you are hungry. And then one of our young, teenage young men—David just looks as tired as can be tonight. I tell you what, he has already yawned about 20 times, and I have not even started preaching. What do you all think about that now? Brother Dylan said he can run laps around you, David. I am teasing with David. I give him a hard time a little bit there. I did notice he is tired, and I have been there before myself, brother, so you are good. Let us stand, if you are able, to read God’s Word together. We are at the part here where Absalom is taking the kingdom. We are in verse number 13, Second Samuel 15, verse number 13. We will read about 10 or 11 verses. Would you stick with me? Let your mind think about what we are reading. Here we go: “There came a messenger to David saying, ‘The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.’”

David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, let us flee.” There is a little bit of a debate about why David left. Why did he not stay there and fight? Some will say he loved Jerusalem so much he did not want the battle to happen there. Maybe it is a combination of things. Some will say he really did not want to fight his son; he was not ready to fight his son. Even at the end, remember he told the generals, “Hey, take care of my son. Be gentle, be easy with my son.” Maybe that is part of it. We will keep reading in this verse. It seems like if we fight right now, we are going to lose. Maybe that is part of it. If you read some commentaries, there is a little bit of a debate about why he left the city of Jerusalem. I would not venture to be dogmatic about anything; the Bible does not let us know exactly why. But he flees.

We will go back to verse number 14. “And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom. Make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.” The king’s servants said to the king, “Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint.” The king went forth, and all his household after him. The king left ten women, which were concubines, to keep the house. The king went forth, and all the people after him, and tarried in a place that was afar off. All the servants passed on beside him—all the Cherethites and all the Pelethites—and all the Gittites, 600 men which came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.

Now, let me just pause and say a couple words there if you would not mind. This seems to be like his bodyguard almost. Before he even became king, remember he was down in the Philistine country, Gath. God just bonded those men to David. I think David was out of the will of the Lord at the time, but it is amazing how God works sometimes, even when we are out of His will. We used to sing—my wife used to sing, before we got better singers, I am told—but we used to sing a good song: “There have been times I’ve been out of His will, but I’ve never been out of His care.”

It is amazing; God is so gracious sometimes. I am not exactly where I ought to be, but God still uses this. These men, it looks like, believed in Jehovah—that is the God of Israel, the God of the Bible, the true God. But they were Philistines, and that is where they kind of bonded to David. They were so loyal. In the heat of the battle, they are the ones who said, “Uh-uh, buddy, we are going to stick with you, David, no matter what.” It is always special to a leader and the people when God bonds someone, and you just know you can bank on them; they are going to be there for you. That is why these people were there for David. So that is where I pick up the story, or that is part of the story right here.

Verse number 19: “Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite.” Most would agree that he is the leader of these 600 men. So you understand what is going on. “Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? Return to the place, and abide with the king.” He is calling Absalom the king, “Abide with the king,” because “thou art a stranger and also in exile, whereas thou came in but yesterday.”

Can I stop and try to explain as we go before we get to the message here? They did not grow up in Israel. This is not their hometown; this is not their home. He said, “Look, you just—in comparison—these people have lived here all their life; you just came here. And you are free. If you want to go, you can go. You do not have to stick with me in the thick and the thin, the heat of the battle.” That is what he said. Let us see what he answered. Verse number 20: “Wherefore came I to thee but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? Seeing I go whither I may, return thou and take back thy brethren: mercy and truth be with thee.”

I like what he told him: mercy and truth. You will find that often in the Bible. You will always find it in that order: mercy and truth, mercy and truth, mercy and truth. Ittai answered the king and said, “As the Lord liveth…” He says, “And Ittai answered the king and said, As the Lord”—notice that is capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D—that means Jehovah. Everything in the Bible is important, even its capitalization. That is why I do not mess it up and change it with all this new stuff. Let us take the Old King James Version Bible. He says, “As Jehovah…” So this foreigner from Gath, the Philistine, the Gittite, he is talking about Jehovah. It leads me to think he knew Jehovah now. He had gotten saved. Maybe David had led him to the Lord. Maybe that is why there is such a bond with him.

It says, “As the Lord Jehovah liveth, and as my lord”—notice no capital letters there; he told me by the king, David—“and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be?” David said to Ittai, “Go and pass over.” And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him.

All the country wept with a loud voice. All the people passed over; the king also himself passed over the Brook Kidron, and all the people passed over toward the way of the wilderness. Now, just one more comment before we pray and try to point out what God wants us to cover tonight. The Brook Kidron is spelled a little different in the New Testament. Do you remember when Jesus was going to the garden, right before the cross? Remember He went to the garden and He prayed, “Lord, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done”? Remember that is when He sweat great drops of blood. It was an intense time right before Jesus went to the cross. If you read this—it is over in John 18—He went over the Brook Kidron. David here is a beautiful picture of the coming Messiah. David is in one of the lowest points of his life, and he is passing over the brook. Jesus, the same way, passes over the brook as He goes to the garden, coming back, and then Judas, the kiss of betrayal. Just a little side note.

This may have been the lowest point of David’s life. Just think about his own son, his own flesh and blood. It is his son that is leading the revolt, the rebellion that is taking the throne. Can you imagine your very own son coming at you like that? Not only that, but the people had fallen for it, many of them, not all of them. Earlier weeks we have read it, the conspiracy was growing stronger. Here the messenger comes and says, “Hey, the hearts of the children of Israel are with Absalom.” This great king, the hearts of the people have been stolen away, and it is his own son trying to kill him and take the throne. Now he has to leave; he is fleeing. It does not sound like a great warrior David; he is running. He is saying, “This is not the time to fight.” He is fleeing the throne. As we read this, it seems that David knows he is reaping from his sin. We have covered it: sin with Bathsheba and killing Uriah, and he has not been the best dad for sure in the world. It seems that he knows he is reaping some chastening here. At this point, he does not know what is going to happen; he does not know if he will ever get back on the throne or not. He has to run from his own throne, and he goes—we do not know exactly where—just far away. The Bible kind of words it that way. Later on, they go to a place called Mahanaim, but here they are just away, far away, so they protect him a little bit. He does not know if he will ever come back to Jerusalem or not. It is probably the lowest point of David’s life. Think about it—maybe the times that you are the lowest—that is where David was. They cross over this brook, and everybody is just weeping; they are just crying. Such a sad thing: this great king having to flee, and everybody is weeping about it, brokenhearted. Can you imagine? In some ways David wants to fight, I am sure, but in some ways says, “I do not want to kill my own son.” It is the term of the lowest point, maybe the lowest point of David’s life.

Now here is the thing: Some were not loyal at all to David. They just turned on David. Did you read it there in verse number 13? That messenger comes: “There came a messenger to David saying, ‘The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.’” By the way, friend, God does put people in your life to be a help and a blessing to you, but at the end of the day, friend, people will disappoint you. God will not. God does put people in your life to help you, but people are fickle. They are up one minute, the next minute they will love you, the next minute they will hate you. It is just people. So many were not loyal to David; they were not. That is why, yes, God uses people in your life, and that is God’s plan, but at the end of the day, you need to be anchored to the Lord, is what I am trying to say. These people were very disappointed; they were not loyal to David, but some were. Some were—did you notice that? Verse number 21: Ittai answered the king and said, “As the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be.” Some were loyal. Some said it does not matter if we get killed in this; we are going to stick with the king. We just believe that is the right thing to do; we are going to do it.

Let me just stop for a second. I believe the Lord wants us just for tonight to focus on this thing here: How loyal are you? How loyal are you to your friends? Now, I am not talking about if someone is just dead wrong, sweeping sin under the rug. I am not talking about that. But I am talking about: Are you a loyal friend, or do you just turn on them like that? Maybe you can be a little bit more popular or gain friendship with certain people if you turn on them. Are you loyal? How loyal are you? How loyal are you to your boss? Boy, it is quiet on that one right there. That is a little tougher. If they are all criticizing the boss and just down on the boss, do you join in? Do you chime in? By the way, if you have an issue with your boss, there is nothing wrong with you as a Christian, with the right attitude, going and talking to your boss. That is the right thing to do. Does that boss know—he might come tell me what he or she thinks in the right way—but I know they are not going to go behind my back and talk about me. Are you? Does your boss know that about you? This loyalty is such a lacking trait in America. Our friend, Andrew, I believe it is, is a police officer. Praise the Lord for police officers. Amen. But it is such a shame how our country many times has not been loyal to police officers. Now, I am not for shooting somebody that is not shooting or not, but can I just say this? When you resist arrest, you are hurting yourself and putting yourself in harm’s way. But I am just saying our median thing is so quick to turn on authority. We are so lacking in loyalty in our country, and it has seeped in many times into the Christian ranks. Loyalty.

David was at his lowest point, and there were some people that were loyal, and there were some people that were not. Can I ask you: Are you loyal to those that are down? I thought about preparing this. I thought about when I was a youth director after Bible college for a little bit, and we just felt like the Lord was moving us on. So we moved to northern Florida, to a church we had never been to. We thought it was a good church, whatnot. For two years and two months—I know how long it was—because if there was anything gold and I touched it, it would turn to mud. It was just a time of testing in every way: car wrecks and layoffs, and Tammy was expecting and was bedridden much of that time. Every angle was just—it was her time of testing. My wife often said if we had not gone through that time, she would not have enough faith to go start a church from scratch, and God used that. It was just horrible. That is one of those times in my life I do not want to repeat; you know what I am saying? I wanted to pass that test because I did not want to go through that one again. It is just no good; no fun.

In the church—I do not want to say too much—the church was a little bit uppity, a little money-focused, you know. And, man, we had car wrecks. We had a wonderful two-tone car because we got the hood from a junk car; it is a different color than the car, you know what I am saying. It is just not pleasant driving into an uppity church. Praise the Lord, we are not an uppity church, amen. But you pull into an uppity church and your hood does not match the rest of your car and so on. Everything was horrible. I am talking about, you just name it, it happened during that time. But we had a young couple. We were young couples at the time; we are still young couples, amen. Anyway, there was a young couple there. I do not know why, but they just believed in us, and they were loyal friends to us. My wife knows—I guarantee she knows exactly what I am talking about—because it meant something to us that we knew we had some friends that believed in us. We were just down every angle, but it meant so much, and even twenty-something years later, it still means something to me. Are you that kind of a friend when people are down? You know what? They are just loyal to me. They are good to me. They are not going to be talking about me behind my back. They are not going to be kicking me when I am down. They are there if I need anything; they are there to help me.

Let me ask you this: This is interesting. David was a king, but Absalom, he was pretty suave. Absalom would go to the gate—that was kind of like where they did all the business, the business part of the town there, and the courthouse—and he slyly stole the hearts of the people. Do you have to have a leader in your life that is suavér, funnier, and has more personality than everybody else? Or if another leader comes along that is pretty suave and has a good personality, can he pull you away from your leader? That is just about how loyal you are. Some of these people were just loyal to David; they just said that we are going to be loyal to him. Some waited till the battle was over: “Well, we will find out,” kind of like that type. We will find out who wins, and then we will pick a side. There were some that said, “Go Absalom’s way,” and they were not loyal today. Some said, “We are just going to be with you, whether we live or die.” Someone said this—I like this quote: “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.”

I like that. By the way, it is a privilege to be a loyal friend when someone is down. As a pastor, I sometimes have that privilege. You do the same thing if you are a pastor, I believe that. It is one of the things I enjoy most about pastoral ministry: sometimes when someone is at rock bottom, you get to be a friend to him. I was thinking about a man that came—I had met with them, but they had already met with five different pastors before me and just would not listen and would not grow in their marriage. They are divorcing—not my choice, but they are going through divorce. The lady had, I think, put a restraining order or something, kicked him out of the house. The guy was just—he had nowhere to live and was just going through a tough time. I really believe, and sometimes it is hard to know what to do in those situations, you do not know all the ins and outs of it. I really believe the Lord spoke to my heart and said, “Hey, you need to help that man.” So we found him a place to live for a month or two and really just tried to give him some help. Eventually, he moved a couple—well, some states away where family is. The last time I talked to him, years after that, he had found a good church; he was in the good church serving the Lord. That is one of my fondest memories: we were able to help that man and be a good friend to him when he was at rock bottom. It is a privilege when the Lord lets you do that.

We have had another couple more recently. They have gone through a tough time. They have just visited our church a little bit, and they called just at a crucial time. I was there with them during a tough time, just put it that way. I visited them recently. Sometimes, you know, when you deal with someone and you know all the dirt, they kind of avoid you, and they need us to reach out and say, “Hey, we still love you. You are still welcome.” I was trying to do that, but they recently said, “You know, we found another church, and we will find out where the Lord wants us.” But they said, “You know, that was a turning point for our marriage, and it was so helpful.” It is a privilege. I am not trying to brag on me; I am just trying to maybe create a little appetite if you can be there for people when they are at rock bottom. That is a privilege; it is an honor. But if I am one of those guys thinking, “Well, they probably deserve what they are getting,” then I am probably not going to be able to help them a whole lot. Some could have said that about David: “Well, if David would have taken care of Absalom years ago…” I think there would have been some truth to it. I am not trying to justify what Absalom did; he is responsible for what he was doing. David did have some issues, you understand what I am saying. It is very possible that if David had not been in this predicament, and yes, that could have been said with a lot of truth, but praise the Lord for that crowd that just said, “You know what, David, it does not matter whether we live or die; we are going to be with you.” It is a privilege to help people and to be loyal when they are at rock bottom.

I was thinking about coming in one morning—I do not know, years ago. Preachers are so lazy; we do not get here. I came in—I mean, I just got up and got here by 1 p.m. I was here, though! That is not the truth, amen. Anyway, I came out—I do not know what time it was—one morning, and there was a fellow out at the truck. He was part of their church, and I found out some horrible things about his marriage and sold. He just walked over to the truck. We walked over to the truck. I knew something was wrong; this was not like this guy. Something was going on. Today we have a special bond because that was the lowest point. I just say some of these things to say, “Hey, do not be so quick to turn on people in the low tide.” Now, yes, do right. I am not talking about sweeping sin under the rug. No, no, no, no, no. Sin needs to be dealt with. Be sure your sin, you will find it out. It is always going to come out some way, and it is better to deal with it right. But friend, be loyal to people and love them even when they are down. Here is the wonderful thing: Jesus is the best friend you could ever have. Praise the Lord! He said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” If we had to earn His friendship, you would have lost it ten million years ago. He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. I am so glad that at your lowest point, if you are a born-again Christian, even if you are there on your own fault, Jesus is the best friend you have. We are to be Christ-like.

Some of these people—man—David is down, and they were loyal. They are loyal. Just a couple more points, and we are going to go home, all right? David has not yawned again; I am proud of it. Look at that. Brother Chip has been snoring back there, but no, he has not. Just a couple more points, and we are going to be done for tonight. We are just trying to find what the Lord wants for us here. Here is the thing: Sometimes when you have two friends and they are fussing and fighting—I am sure you never have that; you have never seen any relatives that are mad at each other, never, ever?—sometimes when you have two friends fussing, it is hard to know who is right or wrong. Usually there is wrong on both parts, typically. What do you do? How do you handle that? Can I just give you a good rule of thumb? I do not know if this is always the truth, but it is a pretty good rule of thumb for what to do: Defend—now listen to me—when they are fussing with each other, what do you do? Defend the attacked. David was not attacking Absalom, was he? No, in fact, he later tells the general, “Take it easy on my boy.” Absalom was attacking David.

More often than not, you find out who is just throwing all the accusations and attacking him. More often than not, you do not know. Defend the attack more often than not. Do you understand what I am saying? When you have friends fussing and fighting with one another, you just do not know what is right or wrong. More often than not, you defend the attack. What about Jesus, when they brought that woman who was caught in adultery, remember that in the New Testament? They said, “Hey, we caught her.” What a sin! And what did Jesus do? He stooped down and started writing there in the sand, I believe it was, and started writing on the ground. We do not know—some say that He began to write the sins of those that were there, the Pharisees who were around there. I am not sure. But they began to leave, from the oldest to the youngest. Remember that? Then it is just Jesus and this woman. Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn thee.” It did not stop there: “Go and sin no more.” Jesus was defending the attacked. It is usually a pretty good rule of thumb.

We are just talking about being loyal. Let me go there for a little bit: Be loyal to authority. Again, I will say it again: I am not talking about sweeping sin under the rug. If you do not know, and by the way, if you have an issue with authority, you go talk to them instead of going around behind their back and complaining and groaning. Go talk to authority if you think they are wrong and deal with it as a Christian ought to. But be loyal to authority. David—you know David—Saul was trying to kill him, and David had an opportunity to kill Saul. David said, “No, I will not lift my hand against God’s anointed.” That is authority. Then let me go on just a little bit tonight about this: Be loyal to your spouse. Be loyal to your spouse. Shame on a husband or a wife that goes around talking about their spouse. That is very disloyal to your spouse. Do not go around. If you need to get counsel, go get counsel, but do not go around town complaining about your spouse. Say amen? What disloyalty you show to the most important person in the world to you, your spouse! If you need to get some help, get some help, but do not go around talking about your spouse in a bad way. Be loyal to them. You defend them. Do not talk about it. Number one, do not talk about it. Number two, do not let anybody else talk about your spouse—friends or even family.

If you have some major issues, you need to go get some counsel, some help, and maybe one of those is family; I understand that. But listen, do not let your family criticize your spouse to you. That is not the way you build good marriages. You must be loyal to that spouse. If you have to say, “Hey, Dad, hey, Mom, hey brother or sister, whatever may be, that is my spouse, that is my wife, and you are not going to be talking about my wife to me,” you let them know you are going to be loyal to your spouse. Loyal to God, and next, loyal to your spouse. By the way, there is no perfect spouse in the world. Everybody could go around and talk about their spouse if they really wanted to because look, we all wake up with bad breath; we all have stinky feet from time to time. Be loyal to you. Does your wife know that on her worst day, you are going to love her and you are going to be loyal to her? Does she know that? Or does she know that on her worst day, if anybody is going to help her, it is not going to be you? Shame on you. I am called to love her like Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That is why I am to love her; I am to love her even on her worst day. You say, “She does not deserve it.” Well, that is the time you are supposed to love her. We do not deserve His love. I am loyal to her, and I am going to love her on her worst day.

Wives, you will know this. We have some, I believe, great wives in here. If that husband knows that he has a wife that is in his corner—and he might be out there in the fight getting his teeth knocked out, losing every battle, every angle, and he knows the world is coming down on him—but if he knows his wife is in his corner, he does not have to worry about that. She is always there for him. That will keep him going more than anything besides the Lord: having a life that he knows is loyal. He knows she is not going to go around talking about him, and if anybody tries to say anything about him, she is going to have to keep her brass knuckles in her purse and not bring them out. That will do more. I have said this often, but more men quit the ministry because their wives want to drop out than any other reason. My thought is that a man can take a lot of things, but if he does not have that wife who is there for him, it is pretty tough to take. If I am going to be loyal to anybody, I ought to be loyal to my spouse.

Can I say a word to the young people here and even just older people? There is not a perfect parent in the world. As you get older, you are going to find, “Hey, Dad, Mom has some flaws.” I do not think it is wrong to see that; you have two eyeballs, you have a brain, you can figure it out sometimes. But still, you ought to be loyal to them. You do not go around town talking about them, criticizing them, putting them down. You do not get rebellious and give an attitude. Hey, you are not a perfect child either. You love them; be loyal to them. You obey them, honor them, like God said, “Honor your father and mother.” Being loyal. Being loyal. Being loyal.

We will study about it in the coming weeks, but David has to flee. There is some debate with Absalom. Absalom comes into Jerusalem, and there is a debate about what he is going to do. Eventually, there is a battle, and eventually Absalom gets killed in the battle. David comes back—we will study it—and he comes back to the throne. Think about it: there are two sets of people out there. Some of them—and David knew it, and they knew it—some of them were loyal to David. Can you imagine David coming back, getting back up on the throne, and somebody saying, “Man, I’m glad I was loyal to David, the man that God had there from the beginning! I’m glad in the middle of the battle, when he was at his lowest point, I didn’t turn my back and I didn’t jump ship and go to this flowery, other leader that said all these good things”? I stuck with the leader God had there. Boy, can you imagine? “I’m so glad I was loyal.” Can you imagine that crowd? David comes back. Some of them—we will study it—they tried to say, “Oh, David, you’re my best friend,” type thing. David said, “Oh, yeah? You were sure my best friend when I was at my lowest point in my life.” Are you loyal? Do your friends know that you are loyal? Can they count on you not to turn on them in the bad times? Can they count on you not to talk about them behind their back? I imagine those people are loyal to David when it is all said and done. “I’m glad I stayed loyal to the man that God had there.”

Original File: How loyal are you - Pastor Paul Chisgar Wednesday 52621