Hello, and welcome to the Westside churches special Monday Morning Coffee podcast on this podcast, our preacher Mark Roberts will help you get your week started right. With look back at yesterday's sermon so that we can think through it further and better work the applications into our daily lives . Mark will then look forward into this week's Bible reading so that we can know what to expect and watch for. And, he may have some extra bonus thoughts from time to time. So grab a cup of coffee as we start the week together on Monday Morning Coffee with Mark.

Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to the Monday Morning Coffee podcast for Monday, April the 14th. I'm Mark and I am holding some really good coffee. A young man at Campbell Road last week. He works in a coffee shop, brought me a bunch of coffee. How great is that? Really appreciate that. Really enjoyed being at Campbell Road. That's a wonderful church. But of course it was just a amazing to be home yesterday. So good to be back where I belong and I trust the preaching yesterday. Helped all of us to give some consideration in a better way, the 9:00 AM hour, some better consideration to our marriage and taking care of that. And then to think about the authority of Christ. That's where we are in the preaching notes, which I want to give you in just a moment. And we're gonna think a little bit about kings and and the authority of kings even in our Bible reading as we move forward in Second Samuel chapter 13. So buckle up lots to go on. Pour that cup of coffee, get ready, get set. Let's go. Yesterday's sermon in the 10 40 was about bowing and sovereignty, bowing to the king, the reasons we kneel before Jesus. That sermon was set off, and I've been thinking about it probably since then by a comment that a man made in Oxford. We were touring there where CS Lewis did his life's work and all the things that went with that. And we got to talk a little bit about the king. They had just gone through all the coronation falderal in celebration for Prince Charles becoming King Charles. And I just asked, Hey, what do you think of this guy? What do you think of the king? And he made some very deliberate comments about the king being the head of the Church of England and some of his behavior and that that did not seem like that actually went very well with being the head of the church. And then he said, why do I need to bow to this guy? He's just, he's just a man. And I have thought a lot about that since then. And I hope the sermon yesterday helped you to think about kneeling before Jesus. For most of us, bowing to a king is pretty foreign territory. As Americans, we don't do that kind of thing. But of course that's a fundamental concept in Christianity. Jesus is the king and he is our sovereign. We bow to Jesus because Matthew 28 18 tells us, Jesus said, all authority in heaven on earth has been given unto me. We bow before him because we recognize he has all authority over everything, including our very lives. So bowing is much more than just a physical posture. It is an act of submission. It's about doing what the king commands not out of force, but out of recognition of his rightful place as the king. Now, oftentimes , I've spoken about Bible authority and how we need to have Bible authority for what we do as Christians. And you know what? At its core that's really just asking, do you respect the authority of the king? Do you submit to the sovereignty of the king? Do you bow to King Jesus? So today I want to leave you with this thought. Every choice we make, every action we take can reflect our answer to that question. Will we submit to the king's authority acknowledging he is Lord over everything, our decisions, our time, our lives? That's that's really nothing more than asking, do you respect the authority of the king? Do you bow to King Jesus Hope that helps you from the sermon on Sunday. Let's keep that spiritual momentum moving into the week. And now let's find second Samuel as we begin to talk about another king, king David in second Samuel 13. Welcome to Monday and Monday's reading is Second Samuel chapter 13 verses one to 22. Trigger warning. Of course, here this chapter involves sexual violence and sexual assault. It's just dreadful. It's just awful. And it comes off of what happened with David in Bathsheba. When Nathan comes and pronounces God's word to David, he tells him the double punishment will be, the sword will not depart. And what he means there evil in your house is that there will be adversity in bloodshed in the royal house. And then he also says that God has decreed, his wise will be taken from him. And what happens then after chapter 12 is that immediately these things begin to come to pass. God's word cannot be broken. God's promises cannot be broken. And particularly, and especially here, we see that yes, you do reap what you sow. And as we begin chapter 13, and we're talking about Amin here, I do think it is significant for us to get a birth order going and make sure that we are tracking the suns . Amon is David's firstborn while Salm is his third born , but there's no mention at all of chili doesn't seem to be on the scene. Perhaps he is dead. So Amin and Absalom would've, yeah, they appear to be the chief contenders for the throne. We would call Amon the crown prince or the heir apparent. Verse two is very difficult in the Hebrew, the idea, and there's different translations of this, it seemed impossible for him to do anything for her or to her, is that he's just love struck . He is. He's just Twitter paid . He doesn't know how to handle or conduct himself around her. But there is no doubt that what he is asking for is sinful and wrong. This is not to be done. It is forbidden in the law. But verse four in the Hebrew is just full of a lib of a liberation . How about that? A lit ? I need more coffee. Hmm , literation. It would be sort of like saying I'm totally taken with tremendous Tamar and many ways this just seems like a spoiled son of a king who is used to getting his way and taking what he wants. Wow. Where would he learn that from? Unfortunately, Tamar falls into his trap. Verse eight, the Hebrew there seems to indicate that he may, she may have been preparing him some kind of special food for a sick person. And so then he grabs her and makes clear what he wants to do. And in verse 12, she gives a beautiful and powerful answer in verses 12 and 13. She says, do not violate me for such a thing is not done in Israel. Do not do this outrageous thing for where could I carry my shame? And you would be as one of the outrageous fools in Israel Now therefore, please speak to the king. He'll not withhold me from you. Let me deal with the end of that verse first. I don't think the king would've allowed them to marry. I think she's just grasping at straws and trying to say anything in this awful situation. But please notice why we don't sin. First verse 12, this is not done in Israel. We are God's people. We are God's people. We don't act like this. This is not what we do. We're not like the pagans who are involved in every kind of sexual immorality. Then verse 13, where could I carry my shame? You need to be concerned for others. Sin is just selfishness. It's just all about me. Don't be all about you. Think about me. And then you'll be like a fool. Be concerned for yourself. What's gonna happen to you if you act in this perverted and sick sort of way? So then verse 15, Amon hated her with a very great hatred. So the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And he said to her, get up and go. But she says, verse 16, no I I , I wanna stay with you. And that well indicates this is a great place to talk to our young people about the different perceptions oftentimes between men and women about the sexual relationship. Oftentimes men can view the sexual relationship as little more than notches on their belt, whereas women see that as something that ought to be bonding them to someone for a permanent relationship. That's why one of the many reasons why premarital sex is forbidden in the Bible , it just causes confusion, hurt and heartache. And that's exactly what's going on here. One scholar said in verse 15, at this point, Tamar probably felt she now did belong to Amon. She was no longer a virgin and she couldn't be married to one of her father's potential allies. Rather than loving her and claiming her for his Os once he had assaulted her, the scriptures recorded that Amon hated her now more than he had loved her before. It's just dreadful and awful. And the really worst part of it is verse 21. When King David heard of all of these things, he was very angry. But please check the marginal note at the bottom of the page or in the center column reference if you have an ESV , it says the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Sept ad. But he would not punish his son Amin 'cause he loved him since he was his firstborn. Now that is contained in a scroll from Kuron , the Dead Sea Scrolls. And it is not yet, there's not yet enough manuscript evidence to write it into the text, but it says something about David as a father and that he's failing as a father. He needs to do something about this. But think about it, what could he do? He had done exactly the same thing. He had taken a woman, he had no right to Amman's just acting like his father. And that causes David to be powerless or at least to feel like he's powerless to do anything about it. This is just dreadful and we'll see more of how it falls out because David doesn't act. That doesn't mean no one is going to act. Absalom is about to come center stage. Our reading for Monday, second Samuel 13, one to 22. It is Tuesday. It is Tuesday. And today we're finishing Second Samuel 13. Our reading for Tuesday is Second Samuel, the 13 chapter verses 23 to 39. This is a pretty straightforward reading, not a lot of complications here. What we get now is Absalom deciding to take care of this Amin problem. And so in verse 23, they're gonna go to Baal Hazel , which is about 15 miles northeast of Jerusalem. And the idea seems to be that Amon verse 26, since he's the crown prince, he should stand in as David's representative. I do wonder if David has some suspicions and worries about Absalom because in verse 27, Davidsons all of the sons. Surely Absalom wouldn't dare attack Amon with so many of the sons present. But Amon is trapped. He is ambushed in the servants of Absalom. Verse 29 did to Amon as Absalom had commanded, Amon is killed here. There's a false report that everybody got killed, but that's not the case at all. It's just Amin. Absalom has a plan. His plan works flawlessly except he then is not welcome in the royal court anymore. He ends up fleeing verses 34 to 39. He runs verse 37, about 80 miles northeast to the home of his maternal grandparents in Geisha where his grandfather Talai is the king. And probably the only difficulty in our reading today is verse 39, the spirit of the king longed to go out to Amsm because he was comforted about Amin since he was dead. Well, what exactly does that mean, particularly given the fact that David does not speak to Absalom for two full years. As we'll see in chapter 14, verse 24, chapter 14 and verse 28, if he longed to go out to him, what's the deal? Why didn't he bring him back to the royal court? The translation here turns on the meaning of the verb co law . Does it mean David longed for Absalom? Or it could mean that David was spent in the sense that he no longer felt a need to pursue Absalom. David wanted to bring him to justice, but after he was comforted about am and he decided to just let it go, all of this still says wherever you are out of verse 39, that David just continues to be a weak father. He's not doing anything about some terrible situations in his own household and that is going to, mm-hmm <affirmative> that's gonna come back around and bite him. That is absolutely going to cause him a lot of problems. Don't forget Westsiders. We do have Zoom tonight. Really nice to have the zoom call when we didn't get to have it last week. Look forward to seeing you on Zoom tonight, Westsiders at seven o'clock. Those of you who are not members of the Westside Church, we'll see you on the podcast tomorrow when we're reading further in second Samuel, our reading then for Tuesday, two Samuel 13 verses 23 to 39 . Welcome to Wednesday. Our reading today is two Samuel the 14 chapter. And this is quite a lengthy chapter, so let's get right into it. Remember again, two Samuel 12 verse 10. Nathan warns David is part of the punishment for his sin with Bathsheba, your house will be troubled and here comes trouble. Some of that trouble comes in the person of Joab . We get a lot about Joab in this chapter and it is fair to ask why Joab is so interested in bringing Absalom home. The text does not tell us why Joab is so interested in why he intervenes so much. It just may be that he expects Absalom to be the next king and he's trying to pave the way for him to have a job in the new administration. We're not certain about all that. Maybe he's just being loyal to David and he knows that David's heart hurts with his son being out of kilter and out of place. But there's a ton of schemes and counter schemes going on in all of this. So Joab knows first one that the king's heart went out to Absalom. And once again, this is just like yesterday in 1339. There's a ton of difficulty with this. Heart goes out or yesterday it was the king long to go out, especially because there's no Hebrew word for go out or long for in 14 one. So the translators are trying to figure out how to smooth the text and what the intent of the text is. The new King James has, his heart was concerned about Absalom. The NIV has heart longed and the ESV has heart went out. Lots of different ideas here. And it seems to me that this is a place where rather than debating the nuances of the Hebrew, we just get a sense of it from the context. From the context. If David's heart was toward Absalom, why this scheme? If David is so interested in bringing him back, why does Joe have to come up with a wise woman of Koa ? I think this passage is saying that that David was done with Absalom , that he's not interested in bringing him back at all. So the koan woman arrives per Joe Abs orders and she tells this long story verse four to 12. And mostly her story is about if we fulfill the law, it's really gonna create a big hardship. She wants the king to overrule the decisions of her clan and to show some flexibility because of the extenuating circumstances. Nobody saw the crime. It appears to be unpremeditated. She would be a widow. Um , she is a widow. But then as a result she would've no one to depend upon. And there, there seems to be a tone, verse seven, that this is just a bunch of, this is just a bunch of land grabbers who are trying to get her inheritance. So she gets the king to admit and agree to make an exception for her. And so the king does. So verse 11, and then she makes application of the story. She is not content with hate. Okay, okay, okay, whatever lady, I'll see what I can do about this. No, she then goes on to say, life is brief. Verse 14. We need to do something now. And I see that you're willing to do something for my son, but you don't do anything for your son. And in verses 15, 16 and 17, she sort of jumps back into her story to sharpen the point. She brings up her own situation again. 'cause she doesn't want David to think that her main point is the main point. No, it's not really about me, it's about you. And that you need to restore Absalom. So Joab then is singled out. Verse 19. David knows immediately he's been tricked. This is kind of like Nathan the prophet in chapter 11 with his parable. And David says, joy , I put you up to this. And she says, yes, he did. So Absalom is brought back to Jerusalem, but there's no reconciliation verses 21 to 24. That's a great message to parents about alienating your children, giving them the silent treatment when , when , when children do wrong. We need to take care of that. We need to deal with that. There needs to be teaching, there needs to be instruction, there needs to be discipline, and then needs to be over. Don't let kids sulk . Look what happens to Absalom. He ends up mad at his father and will ultimately even attempt to murder his own dad. So finally, Absalom is reconciled verses 25 to 33. And we get some more information here about Absalom. We know already that he is ruthless. He will murder people or order the murder of people. In chapter 13, he orders the death of Nan . But now we get that he's just vain. He is completely vain, but he's in Jerusalem for two full years without coming into the King's presence. So he says, Hey Joab, why? Why aren't you helping me anymore? And maybe by now verse 29, Joab has perceived that the winds have changed and that he does not need to back this horse in the race. But Abso says, I want your help and if you're not gonna help me, I'll burn your fields down. So more information on the kind of person that Absalom is. He is not to be trifled with. He's used to getting his way. He expects to get his way. He looks like a king. He's vain and beautiful and handsome and all of that. This is a spoiled rich kid and you better pay attention to him. But David did not pay attention to him. It seems then that Joab verse 33 finally arranges some kind of reconciliation. But it's been five years that Absalom and David have been angry and been apart. And that's too long. As David's about to learn. Our reading for Wednesday is second Samuel 14 . Welcome to Thursday's reading for Thursday. We read Second Samuel the 15th chapter. And this is a brutal chapter. This is probably without any doubt, David's worst day. It's been approximately nine to 12 years since he sinned with Bathsheba and he just keeps reaping what he has sown in his own household. All of his mismanagement just comes to a head. He should have dealt with Amon for raping Tamar. He should have dealt with Absalom for the revenge murder of Amon . He should not have alienated Absalom with half forgiveness. And it all blows up in his face right here. So Absalom steals the hearts of the men of Israel in the first six verses. Notice he does a couple of things. He prepares a royal looking procession so that he looks impressive and important. He complains about government being inefficient and not taking care of people. That's always so easy to do. People are still doing that. When you run for office, you don't say, my opponent's doing a decent job, but you know, I think I could do a better job. No , what you say is he's doing a terrible job. Oh my, nobody's getting justice here. And then he kisses men when they come instead of asking them to bow, what a thrill. Here's the crown prince treating me like I'm a peer and he really works on his, I'm the common man. Look. And again, we just see that in politicians all the time today. How often do you see a politician out on the campaign trail and he takes off his jacket and loosens his tie and rolls up his sleeves like he's a regular Joe. Those people are , they're not regular joes. Okay? Enough about that. Absalom is not a regular Joe. And one writer just gave an excellent commentary on people like Absalom. And Absalom is one who advances his own interest by pretending a deep devotion to the interest of the people. Bingo, that's Absalom . And so the rebellion begins in verse seven. There's a scribble question there. Is it four or 40? It has to be four because David was only king for 40 years in total. And Absalom goes to Hein and of course he goes to Hein because that's where David was anointed king. It is the religious center of things. It is the place to anoint kings. He wants to look like a king. And he takes a lot of men with him, which makes the rebellion appear to be a lot stronger than it really is. But part of the rebellion is a oph , a heel's son is Elam Bathsheba's father. Chapter 23 verse 34. So there's another link to the second Samuel 11 Bathsheba sin. The result of all of this, of course, is that David has to evacuate the capital . He does not know how strong the rebellion is. He does not know who is for him and who is against him. And the answer is to get out of Dodge. And David acts decisively and he acts at once , verse 13, which is very characteristic of David. He does not sit on his hands and get caught. He moves out. And as he's moving out, some things happen that are really, really impressive. It tied the getti verse 21, super loyal . That's a great contrast with Absalom and especially with a hit Tre treachery. And then in verse 25, David has no superstitions about the arc. If, if I'm not serving God, if I'm not doing right, carrying around the gold box isn't gonna change anything. Don't bring the ark. If God wants me, if God wants me to triumph, he'll bring me back. Having the golden box won't make the difference. Such a huge contrast to some earlier times in Israel's history when they aren't serving God. But hey, if we just bring the arc of God into battle, we'll triumph 'cause we have this big lucky charm. No, no, no. First Samuel four , by the way, has the lucky charm story, not the serial, the Ark of the Covenant. And then I really, really love verses 31 to 34 because here is the consummate example in David's life of prayer and action. He prays in verse 31 and then Hai , the archive comes sailing out and David says, Hey, you'd be a burden to me if you're traveling with me. Maybe. Maybe Hai is old. You go back in there and you mess up Absalom's plans, he'll trust you. Give him bad intel, give him bad advice. You can do it. So David has prayed for God to destroy the rebellion of Absalom and then gives God something to work with. Sometimes when we pray, we we imagine now we can just sit on our hands and do nothing. Or we run to the other extreme and we think we have to do everything we pray. But God isn't really going to do anything. No planning and prayer go together. Prayer and activity go together. By the way, that's a risky mission for Hy . That is a risky mission for Hui . But verse 37 ends this dramatic chapter. David's friend Hy came into the city just as Absalom was entering Jerusalem. Woo . Hard to stop reading the story now. It's really getting good. But tomorrow will be in the Psalms. Today's reading, Thursday's reading second Samuel 15. Welcome to Friday, our Bible reading today. Psalm three. Always a good feeling to get to Friday, isn't it? Many things done during the week. Lots going on. We're looking forward to worshiping together on Sunday. Lots of things happening of course this weekend. But before we get to all of that, we're gonna think about the third Psalm. Psalm three is our reading for Friday. This Psalm is a notable Psalm for a number of reasons. It has many firsts to its credit. It is the first Psalm in the collection of Psalms that is as described to David Psalms three to 41. It's the first of 13 Psalms to bear a super prescription that gives us historical data about the Psalm. And it is the first lament Psalm, a cry for help. And it is the first time the psalmist uses the term se law S-E-L-A-H, which is probably a musical notation that perhaps means pause. But we do not know for sure. The setting here, according to the superscription, is the revolt of Amala. And I would remind you as we read yesterday in two Samuel 15, that David has to flee Jerusalem. He is pushed out of his capital city. And we ought to think about that a little bit because if you're being attacked by a hostile army in biblical times, what did you do? Yeah, you fled to a city to get behind walls. But David had to leave his city. He doesn't know the size and strength of Absalom's rebellion. He doesn't know who's on his side and who is not. He could be, he could be murdered in his own bed. So the best thing to do is to get out of town and that is what David has to do. But that leaves him in a very vulnerable position. And he may well have written this psalm after all of that was over. But a lot of this just sounds like David's on the run and David's trying to trust in God. So the first couple of verses, verses one to two, he talks about how his enemies are circling him. And then in verse 3, 4, 5, and six, we get God being a protection, a circle of protection around David and I especially like verse three because we sing this You all Lord are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head. David needed that shield because he is outside of the walls of Jerusalem. And I love the expression lifter of my head. When we get depressed and despondent, what happens to our chin? Mm-hmm <affirmative> . Chin goes down onto our chest. David says, God lifts him up, lifts his head up. It's gonna be fine. I'm gonna take care of you. Don't be down. You are the lifter of my head. And I think as you're reading this center section here, you can see how David moose his eyes from the enemy to God and that changes David's tone. It then ends verses seven and eight with God delivering. David and I particularly like verse eight. There is supreme confidence there, and it's not just about David. David moves to include all people. Well, there you go. That's a short psalm, but that's a powerful and wonderful Psalm. Our reading for Friday is Psalm three. That concludes then the podcast for the week. I certainly do appreciate you reading the Bible with me and thinking about our sermon from last Sunday. Just an absolute joy to be together as we think through the word of God. Looking forward to Sunday, probably need to get my bunny suit out and get it to the cleaners so that I'll be ready to hop around on Easter Sunday. And I hope you understand that was extremely tongue in cheek. I am looking forward to seeing you on Sunday. Do appreciate you listening to the podcast and the encouraging things that you say to me. Email message me about the podcast. If it's helping you, it'll help others. Tell somebody about the podcast. Leave a rating. Leave a review. So until next week when we'll be in the word of God again, I want to remind you, I'm Mark Roberts and I want to go to heaven, and I want you to come to see you Monday with a cup of coffee.

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