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[0:00] If you'll turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter 19, we'll be starting at the second half of verse 8.

[0:17] ! And now he has fled out of the land from Absalom.

[0:38] But Absalom, who we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore, why do you say nothing about bringing the king back?

[0:50] And King David sent this message to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests. Say to the elders of Judah, why should you be the last to bring the king back to his house when the word of all Israel has come to the king?

[1:08] You are my brothers. You are my bone and my flesh. Why then should you be the last to bring back the king? And say to Amasa, are you not my bone and my flesh?

[1:23] God do so to me and more also if you are not commander of my army from now on in place of Joab. And he swayed the hearts of all the men of Judah as one man, so that they sent word to the king, Return, both you and all your servants.

[1:45] So the king came back to the Jordan, And Judah came to Gilgal to meet the king and to bring the king over the Jordan. And Shimei, the son of Gerah, the Benjaminite from Behurim, hurried to come down with the men of Judah to meet King David.

[2:03] And with him were a thousand men from Benjamin. And Ziba, the servant of the house of Saul, With his fifteen sons and his twenty servants, Rushed down to the Jordan before the king.

[2:19] And they crossed the ford to bring over the king's household and to do his pleasure. And Shimei, the son of Gerah, fell down before the king as he was about to cross the Jordan, And said to the king, Let not my lord hold me guilty, Or remember how your servant did wrong on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem.

[2:42] Do not let the king take it to heart, For your servant knows that I have sinned. Therefore, behold, I have come this day, The first of all the house of Joseph, To come down to meet my lord the king.

[3:00] Abishai, the son of Zariah, answered, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this because he cursed the Lord's anointed? But David said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zariah, That you should do this day, be as an adversary to me?

[3:19] Shall anyone be put to death in Israel this day? For do I not know that I am this day king over Israel? And the king said to Shimei, You shall not die.

[3:32] And the king gave him his oath. And Mephibosheth, the son of Saul, came down to meet the king. He had neither taken care of his feet, Nor trimmed his beard, Nor washed his clothes.

[3:45] From the day the king departed, Until the day he came back in safety. And when he came to Jerusalem to meet the king, The king said to him, Why do you not go with me, Mephibosheth?

[4:00] He answered, My lord, O king, My servant deceived me. For your servant said to him, I will saddle a donkey for myself, That I may ride on it, And go with the king.

[4:14] For your servant is lame. He has slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like the angel of God. Do therefore what seems good to you.

[4:29] For all my father's house Were but men doomed to death Before my lord the king. But you set your servant among those who eat at your table.

[4:41] What further right have I, Then, To cry to the king. And the king said to him, Why speak any more of your affairs?

[4:53] I have decided you and Ziba shall divide the land. And Mephibosheth said to the king, Oh, let him take it all, Since my lord the king has come safely home.

[5:07] Now, Barzillai, the Gileadite, Had come down from Rogilim, And he went on with the king to the Jordan, To escort him over the Jordan. Barzillai was a very aged man, Eighty years old.

[5:22] He had provided the king with food While he stayed at Mahanaim, For he was a very wealthy man. And the king said to Barzillai, Come over with me, And I will provide for you with me in Jerusalem.

[5:36] But Barzillai said to the king, How many years have I still to live That I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?

[5:47] I am this day eighty years old. Can I discern what is pleasant and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats? Or what he drinks? Can I still listen to the voice of singing men And singing women?

[6:02] Why then should your servant be an added burden To my lord, the king? Your servant will go a little way Over the Jordan with the king. Why should the king repay me with such a reward?

[6:17] Please let your servant return, That I may die in my own city, Near the grave of my father and my mother. But here is your servant, Kimham.

[6:29] Let him go over with the lord, the king, And do for him whatever seems good to you. And the king answered, Kimham shall go over with me, And I will do for him whatever seems good to you.

[6:42] And all that you desire of me, I will do for you. Then all the people went over to the Jordan, And the king went over, And the king kissed Brazilai, And blessed him, And he returned to his own home.

[6:58] The king went on to Gilgal, And Kimham went on with him. All the people of Judah, And also half the people of Israel, Brought the king on his way. Then all the men of Israel came to the king, And said to the king, Why have our brothers, The men of Judah, Stolen you away, And brought the king, And his household over the Jordan, And all David's men with him?

[7:22] And all the men of Judah answered, The men of Israel, Because the king is our close relative. Why then are you angry over this matter? Have we eaten at all at the king's expense?

[7:35] Or has he given us any gift? And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, We have ten shares in the king, And in David also, We have more than you.

[7:49] Why then did you despise us? We are not the first to speak of bringing back our king. Were we not the first to speak of bringing back our king? But the words of the men of Judah Were fiercer than the words of the men Of Israel.

[8:06] This is the word of the Lord. Praise be to God indeed. Well, good morning church. My name is Carmen Arroyo, And once again, I am here in the pulpit, And it is an honor to be here On this Mother's Day, On this Lord's Day, To bring to you the word.

[8:26] And as we dive in today, I noticed that in the news, We see everything, And it is once again, Election season. So, Let's get political, Shall we?

[8:39] I want you guys to think of the presidents In your lifetime, And notice, I notice, As you're thinking over the presidents, Your faces are grimacing, Some of you kind of like, Moved in your seats, I started saying politics, But I want us to notice how, We can't even agree, Whether the ones that we're thinking of, Are good, And the other ones, Are bad.

[9:06] Now, I want us to look around, At the events of the world today, We have political divisions, Have turned into tribal warfare, Family dinners, Are minefields, Churches split, And Christians, Who share the same Bible, And worship the same Lord, Can barely stay in the same room, Together.

[9:30] Everybody's shouting for accountability, But we're all talking past, One another. Aren't we? And in the middle of all this chaos, We keep looking to human rulers, To heal spiritual wounds, But no president, No party, No policy, No movement, Can reconcile, What sin has divided.

[9:55] We need, A better king. What we're living through in 2026, Is not identical to what we see here, In 2 Samuel, But it is painfully similar, And seems familiar, God's people knew what it was to be fractured, Suspicious, Politically divided, And desperate for a king, That could bring peace, How many of us wish that, Amongst our own political leaders?

[10:27] The civil war between Absalom and David, Absalom and David has ended, Absalom is dead, The rebellion is crushed, And David is now, Having to bring a nation, Back together, And we see that, This sword from 2 Samuel chapter 12, Is still cutting through David's house, And now it's going further, And cutting through the nation, The nation is watching, The nation is waiting, The nation is hoping, And what happens?

[10:58] He can't, David can't, And by the end of our passage today, The kingdom is actually more divided, Than when it started, The tribal conflict has escalated, Fierce words are flying, And with one verse of our texts end, Another rebellion explodes, Church, Today we will see this, That David cannot mend, What sin has torn, His failures point us, To the king reborn, And in this sermon I've titled, The king who couldn't reconcile, We'll watch David fail, In three ways, First, The king who plays favorites, Second, The king who mishandles justice, And thirdly, The king who cannot unite, Each failure drives us to Christ, The greater David, Who succeeds where David fails, And if you're feeling the weight, Of this divided nation, Today church, Or our fractured communities, Or your broken relationships,

[11:59] Or families, Then if you're wondering, Where these leaders are, Where are all the good men gone, Or women, Then this passage is for you, Because what you're about to see, Is that political solutions, Cannot heal, What sin has divided, Only Christ can, So let's open up in prayer, Father God I pray, I pray for you to open up our eyes, And open up our ears, And soften our hearts, Father, To be able to, Be rid of all the noise, The news, The social media, And focus on your word, And your word alone, To lead us, Through our failures, To the cross, To the only hope, In this world, Father we lift all this up, To glorify you, In your son's Jesus name, We pray, Amen, Amen, So, First failure, That we'll go through today, Is, The king who plays favorites, Let us look,

[13:00] At the beginning of the passage, 8b through, Verse 10, We see, Now Israel had fled every man, To his own home, And all the people were arguing, Throughout all the tribes of Israel, Saying, The king delivered us, From the hand of our enemies, And saved us from the hand of the Philistines, And now, He has fled out, Of the land from Absalom, But Absalom, Whom we anointed over us, Is dead in battle, Now therefore, Why do you say nothing, About bringing back, Or bringing the king back?

[13:34] The kingdom is completely disorganized, They just went through a civil war, Three factions are all arguing, Throughout all the tribes, In Israel, Between Judah, And Israel, And the tribes within, This isn't just Israel versus Judah, It's internal fragmentation, Everywhere, Notice what they're saying, Why do you say nothing, About bringing the king back?

[14:00] Or, A more poetic version, I liked, Is the King James version, Why speak ye not, A word of bringing, The king back? They're talking, They're debating, But no one is doing, Anything, They're doing nothing, It's all talk, And no action, And from another king, It's a little less conversation, A little more action, It's what David wants, Some of you got that, The kingdom is paralyzed, David waits, And Mahiim, Beyond the Jordan, Expecting an invitation, But, Let's see what happens, As we move on, To verses 11 through 12, And king David, Sent this message, To Zadok, And Abiathar, The priests, Say to the elder of Judah, Why should you, Be the last, To bring the king, Back to his house,

[15:01] When the word, Of all Israel, Has come to the king, You are my brothers, You are my bone, And my flesh, Why then, Should you be the last, To bring back, The king?

[15:13] Like we've been seeing, Israel is talking, And they're not acting, And while the nation hesitates, The text shows us, That David is now, Taking a more active, And a more dangerous, Strategy, And while we see this, He sends a private, Exclusive message, To only one of the tribes, To Judah, Through priests, I want us to listen, To the appeal, That David is sending, You are my brothers, My bone, And my flesh, Why should you be the last, This is an appeal, To his kinship, This is an appeal, To tribal pride, This is playing, To his base, And whatever David's intent is, The effect, Ends up being divisive, He's basically saying, Judah, You're my family, Don't let the other tribes, Beat you to this, If you're not first, You're last, But that's not all, Let's look forward, To verse 13, And say to Amasa,

[16:15] Are you not my bone, And my flesh? God do so to me, And more also, If you are not, Commander of my army, From now on, In place, Of Joab, If we remember, Amasa, Commanded Absalom's army, The enemy, From David, Albeit it was his son, It was a civil war, And David promises, To make him commander, Of his royal army, Replacing Joab, David may have thought, That this was a wise, Political move, To heal the nation, He may have believed, That he was stabilizing, The kingdom, But the effect is clear, That instead of gathering, All of Israel together, He privileges Judah first, And that decision, Deepens the fraction, Even more, Let's move forward, To verses 14 and 15, And he swayed the hearts,

[17:16] Of all the men of Judah, As one man, So that they sent word, To the king, Return, Both you, And all your servants, So the king, Came back to the Jordan, And Judah, Came to Gilgal, To meet the king, And to bring the king, Over the Jordan, Success, Someone finally does something, Judah reacts, They come as one man, They send a message back, To David, And then they meet him, At the Jordan, But again, We have to notice, Who is not mentioned, The other side, Israel, David opened, Or appealed only to Judah, He bypassed all of the other tribes, And so we see here, That Judah, Comes by themselves, Without consulting, Or cooperating, With any of the others,

[18:18] The text shows us, A king, Whose actions favored his own tribe, And secured, His position, But did not heal, The deeper, Fracture, And he is about to pay for it, Because church, Political strategy, Cannot replace, Righteous leadership, The effects of David's decisions, Are clear, And how many of us, Play favorites, In our own family, We prioritize safety, Over righteousness, In our leadership, Whether it's here, At church, At your work, Even within your own families, In your communities, We let the influential, Escape, While the weak, Bear the consequences, And it doesn't work, Does it?

[19:09] It never works, The kingdom, Needs a king, Who doesn't play favorites, Who doesn't manipulate, Through strategic appointments, Who leads, With righteous principle, Rather than political, Calculation, But there is, Such a king, And David cannot mend, What sin has borne, Torn, His favoritism, Even only deepens, The fracture, But his failures, Point us, To the king, Reborn, David appeals, To my bone, And my flesh, To kinship, To tribal pride, And divides the kingdom, But the greater David, Takes on our flesh, And blood, Not to favor one tribe, But to redeem people, From every tribe, Tongue, And nation, Where David's favoritism fractures, Christ's incarnation, Unites, And we'll see more of him, Capital H, At the end,

[20:11] But first, David fails again, As we move on, To failure number two, The king, Who mishandles justice, Now David, We'll see here, In verses 16 through 40, Crosses the Jordan, And three men come to meet him, Right?

[20:35] In David's handling of all these three men, We'll see mercy, Without final justice, We'll see unjust compromise, And we'll see genuine honor, So let's look at all three, Shall we?

[20:50] First, Shimei, In verses 16 through 18, Let's read, Come with me, And Shimei, The son of Gerah, The Benjaminite, From Behernim, Hurried to come down, With the men of Judah, To meet king David, And with him, Were a thousand men, From Benjamin, And Ziba, The servant of the house of Saul, With his fifteen sons, And his twenty servants, Rushed down to the Jordan, Before the king, And they crossed the four, To bring over the king's household, And to do his pleasure, And Shimei, The son of Gerah, Fell down before the king, As he was about, To cross the Jordan, You guys remember Shimei?

[21:34] Back in chapter 16, Second Samuel 16, Where he cursed David publicly, He threw stones, At king David, He called him worthless, He said that God was judging him, For the death of Saul, And we have to remember, That by covenant law, Back there in Exodus, Cursing God's anointed, Was no small offense, So this was something, That was drastic, But now, Absalom is dead, David is coming back, And the guy that Shimei, Was trying to back, Is no longer around, And Shimei, Is terrified, So he prostrates himself, With a thousand Benjaminites, He lays himself down, With a thousand of them, At his back, And we have to realize, Here church, That Shimei's response, Is not as simple, As it may appear,

[22:35] He comes quickly, He comes publicly, And with a thousand Benjaminites, Behind him, The text, Gives us, A reason to question, Whether or not, This confession, Is entirely straightforward, Let's go on, To verses 19 through 20, And Shimei, Said to the king, Let not my lord hold me guilty, Or remember how your servant did wrong, On the day my lord the king left Jerusalem, Do not let the king take it to heart, For your servant knows, That I have sinned, Therefore behold, I have come this day, The first of all the house of Joseph, To come down to meet my lord the king, He confesses, He begs, He claims to be the first, And how does David respond?

[23:29] Well, Let's see, Verses 21 through 23, Abishai, Kind of like this guy, Abishai, The son of Zariah answered, Shall not Shimei be put to death, For this, Because he cursed the lord's anointed?

[23:44] But David said, What have I to do with you, You sons of Zariah, That you should this day, Be as an adversary to me, Shall anyone be put to death in Israel this day?

[23:55] For do I not know, That I am this day king over Israel? I apologize, I lost my spot, There we are, And the king said to Shimei, You shall not die, And the king gave him his oath, David pardons him, He swears an oath to him, You shall not die, And on the surface, Church, This does look generous, This does look merciful, But, We have to look at this, In the fact that, What we need to know, Is that, This moment, In this, Encounter, This mercy, Is real, In the moment, But it is not, Final, Because we see later, In 1 Kings chapter 2, That while David is on his deathbed, Talking to his son Solomon, And says, Do not hold Shimei guiltless, You know what you ought to do with him,

[24:56] And you shall bring his gray head down, With blood, To Sheol, David later orders, Shimei's, Execution, And what we see here, Is that David's pardon today, May have preserved peace in the moment, But we see later on, In 1 Kings chapter 2, Shows us that, It did not truly settle, The matter, And that this mercy, That preserved the day, It did not resolve, The guilt, That is, Why this mercy, Cannot bear the full weight, Of biblical, Reconciliation, That we're called to do, Next, Mephibosheth, On to the second man, Let's start, At verses 24, Through 25, And Mephibosheth, The son of Saul, Came down to meet the king, He had neither taken care, Of his feet, Nor trimmed his beard, Nor washed his clothes,

[25:58] From the day, The king departed, Until the day, He came back, In safety, And when he came to Jerusalem, To meet the king, The king said to him, Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?

[26:13] Remember, Mephibosheth, He's the grandson of Saul, The son of Jonathan, And he's lame, In both of his feet, Also remember, That back, In chapter 16, Of 2 Samuel, His servant, Mephibosheth's servant, Ziba, Lied to David, And claimed, That Mephibosheth, Betrayed him, And left him stranded, I want us to look, At the evidence here, That the narrator, Calls out for us, Mephibosheth, He didn't wash, He didn't trim his beard, Nor care for his feet, Since David left, This is a man in mourning, This is a man, Who has been loyal, And as an explanation, And his explanation, In verses 26 through 28, Only is more transparent,

[27:15] And provides credibility, To this claim, He says, In verse 26, Follow me, He answered, My lord, O king, My servant deceived me, For your servant said to him, I will saddle a donkey for myself, That I may ride on it, And go with the king, For your servant is lame, He has slandered your servant, To my lord, The king, But my lord, The king, Is like an angel of God, Do therefore, What seems good, To you, For all of my father's house, Were but men doomed to death, Before my lord, The king, But you, Set your servant, Among those who eat, At your table, What further right, Have I, Than to cry, To the king, Everything, Everything the narrator, Is showing us, This is leaning us, Towards Mephibosheth's loyalty,

[28:16] So what does David do, He sees, Mephibosheth's cries, He sees, What Mephibosheth has done, And not grooming himself, Or taking care of himself, In agony, Because of the king's departure, What does he do, We see in verse 29, And the king said to him, Why speak any more, Of your affairs, I have decided, You and Ziba, Shall divide, The land, Huh, What, We see that the evidence, Is overwhelmingly supporting, The loyalty of Mephibosheth, And that Ziba, Has actively deceived him, Stranded him, And slandered him, And David's verdict, Is split the estate, To divide it, That the guilty gets half, And the innocent gets half, That's not justice, That's compromise, The right verdict church,

[29:18] What would the right verdict be, Easy, Right, Mephibosheth, He gets it all, He gets it all, He stayed loyal, He shouldn't lose a thing, He was slandered, He deserves vindication, But David gives him half, And doesn't even apologize, For it, The effect of this, Is clear church, That David, Is preferring, Expediency, To justice, He'd rather just, Shoot under the rug, To get past it, To get on to more, Bigger problems, He needs to unite, A kingdom, And let's look at, Mephibosheth's response is, In verse 30, Where he said, To the king, Oh let him take it all, Since my lord the king, Has come safely home, Let him take it all, That's the response, Of a man whose heart, Was never about property,

[30:19] That's, Loyalty, And David, Just treated him, With this unjust compromise, And before, We get further, Into the tribal, Explosion, There's one more encounter, That we will look at, Barzillai, In verses 31 through 40, Barzillai, Had sustained David, When David was weak, When he was exiled, And vulnerable, But unlike Shimei, He's not trying to save, His own skin, And unlike Ziba, He's not trying to gain, Any type of advantage, Barzillai, Is simply, Loyal, And David, Rightly honors him, And this matters, Because David is not, Some cartoon villain, He can show wisdom,

[31:20] He can show gratitude, And honor, And yet, Even David, At his best, Cannot heal, The kingdom's, Deeper wound, Church, We have to see, That peace, Cannot be purchased, By compromised, Righteousness, We do this constantly, Don't we?

[31:41] You may not think, You do, But you do, We compromise, Standards, To avoid, Losing relationships, Friendships, Or maybe even status, We preserve, We pressure, Victims, To just move on, Without pursuing justice, Oh, That happens to everyone, Just keep going, You'll be fine, We tolerate, False teaching, To preserve, Unity, Deuteronomy, Chapter 16, Verse 19, Says, You shall not, Pervert, Justice, Church, When justice is on the line, Delay is better than injustice, It's better to stop, Delay, Pray, Make a decision, Not in the haste, But in prayer, Because the kingdom needs a king, Who perfectly embodies, Both mercy, And justice,

[32:42] Never one, At the expense of another, And there is, Such a king, David cannot mend, What sin is torn, He cannot hold mercy, And justice together, But his failures, Point us, To the king reborn, David cannot pardon the guilty, Without leaving justice unresolved, He cannot vindicate, The innocent, Without compromise, But the cross, At the cross, Christ stands in the place, Of the guilty, So that mercy flows, Without God ever compromising, His justice, This is the gospel, God is both, Just, And, The justifier, And David is not, That king, As we see his third failure, In this passage, Failure number three, The king who cannot unite, We'll be looking through,

[33:44] Verses 41 through 43, But by the time we reach, These verses, The sword, That we referred back to, In 2 Samuel 12, Is no longer cutting, Only through David's family, It's cutting through, The entire nation, It's cutting through, Israel itself, David has crossed, The Jordan, He's on his way, To Jerusalem, But he did not wait, For all the tribes, He accepted, To Judah's, Exclusive invitation, Their exclusive, Escort, And Israel, Is furious, We see this, In verse 41, Then all the men of Israel, Came to the king, And said to the king, Why, Have our brothers, The men of Judah, Stolen your way, And brought the king, And his household, Over the Jordan, And all David's men, With him, Stolen you away, They feel cheated, They feel excluded, And here's the thing, Church, What they're going through,

[34:46] Is legitimate, They were excluded, And let's look forward, To Judah's response, In verse 42, All the men of Judah, Answer the men of Israel, Because the king, Is our close relative, Why then are you angry, Over this matter, Have we eaten at all, At the king's expense, Or has he given us, Any gift, Judah gets defensive, They don't apologize, They dig in, They try to justify, Themselves, Sound familiar, For any of you, Now Israel, Escalates even further, As we look at, Verse 43, And the men of Israel, Answer the men of Judah, We have ten shares, In the king, And in David, Also we have more, Than you, Why then do you, Despise us, Were we not the first,

[35:47] To speak of bringing, Back our king, Let's hear what they're saying, We have ten shares, We have more, Than you, You, You despised, Us, We, Were first, That's score keeping, This is a, Competitive pride, This is a, Wounded ego, Masquerading, As a principled person, Does that, Sound familiar, To any of you, I want us to notice, This tribal arithmetic, Ten shares, Because we'll see, This arithmetic, This tribal arithmetic, Echo later, When the kingdom, Tears into two, After Solomon, Ten tribes, Ten shares, Follow Jeroboam, While David's house, Is left, With Judah,

[36:47] And then we go, To the final line, In the second half, Of verse 43, But the words, Of the men of Judah, Were fiercer, Than the words, Of the men of Israel, Fiercer, Not reconciliation, Not apology, Not humility, Fiercer words, And before the trumpet, Of rebellion, Is blown, In chapter 20, The fire, Is already been lit, By words, Fierce words, Become fractured fellowship, Fractured fellowship, Becomes open revolt, And what happens next, In the very next verse, 2 Samuel, Chapter 20, Verse 1, We'll get there next week, Come on back, It's another rebellion,

[37:51] Immediately, Immediately following, The tribal conflict, That began at Gilgal, Expands, And explodes, Into open revolt, Within one verse, So what just happened, How many of us, Have been in a conversation, That just gets so blown, Out of the way, Next thing you know, You're in a position, You're like, How did we get here, Well, David's favoritism, Towards Judah, Created a legitimate, Grievance, In Israel, But instead, Of humble, Gospel saturated, Reconciliation, Both sides, Chose pride, You guys ever done that, Israel, They could have easily, Have said, We're hurt, But we're brothers, Let's move forward, Together, And Judah, Could have easily, Have said, It's like, You know what, You're right, We should have waited, Our bad,

[38:52] We're sorry, Let's unite, But neither did, Instead, They score kept, They took offense, They exchanged fiercer words, And the kingdom fractures, Church, Proud hearts cannot be reconciled, By political solutions, David tried political repair, And it failed, Because you cannot reconcile, Proud hearts, Through political maneuvering, And church, This is exactly, What we're doing today, Don't even think about our nation, Think about your own families, Your own homes, Think about your own community, But, We think if we elect, The right president, The division will heal, We think if we change, The policy, The conflict will end, And it won't, If our tribe wins, We may think it will end,

[39:53] But it won't, Because the problem, Isn't political church, It's spiritual, The problem is pride, The problem is sin, The problem is hearts, That want to be vindicated, More than they want to be reconciled, And here's a pattern, I see far too often, Because we're great, At being Christians, Right, We're good to come to church, We tithe, We support missions, We read our Bibles, We pray, Until, Conflict erupts, And then, The sermon on the mount, Completely vanishes, For some reason, Right, What happened, To blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called, The sons of God, Or, With all humility, And gentleness, With patience, Bearing with one another, In love, Eager to maintain, The unity of the spirit, And bond, Of peace, And the bond of peace, From Ephesians, What happens to those?

[40:56] What, Would this look like, Practically, For us? Maybe, When you're at work, Or a decision is being made, Within your family, Or your friends, And you're excluded, From that decision, Maybe go to that person, Privately, And have a conversation with them, And say, I'm hurt, But you know what?

[41:20] I love you, You're my brother, You're my sister, And work towards reconciliation, More so than just saying, This person hurt me, Wah!

[41:36] And when someone wounds your pride, Instead of, Taking the offense, And running with it, Maybe absorb it, Turn the other cheek, And pursue peace, Some of you guys are like, Ain't no way, I'm doing that, Is the alternative worth it?

[42:00] Now, I want to make sure, You're not misunderstanding me, I don't want us to pretend, That sin doesn't matter, But by refusing, To let go of your ego, It becomes lord, Over the conflict, There is such a thing, As righteous anger, But don't let, Your ego, Come in the way, Of reconciliation, And an idol, And this is what, Bearing with one another, In love, Starts to look like, But, How are we acting?

[42:37] Are we acting like Israel? Are we acting like Judah? Are we scorekeeping, Taking offense, Exchanging fiercer words? Church, How are we going to be united?

[42:48] How is our nation, Our families, Our brokenness, Is going to be united? We need a king, That can actually unite, What sin has divided, We need a king, Whose kingdom doesn't fracture, Under pressure, We need a king, Who can reconcile, Proud, Broken, Sinful people, To each other, And to God, David cannot mend, What his sin has torn, His strategies only multiply, The fractures, But his failures, Point us to the king reborn, And with David crossing the Jordan, And the people fight over, Who has greater claim, That's what happens with him, But Christ, Christ, He goes through death, And the resurrection, And the result is, Not competing shares, Not competing tribes, But one body, One spirit, One hope, One Lord, One faith, One baptism, And where David returns, Brings fiercer words,

[43:50] Christ's resurrection, Brings words of peace, Peace be with you, David is not that king, And we've watched him fail, Three times, He was the king who played favorites, The king who mishandled justice, The king who could not unite, But David cannot mend, What sin has torn, And we need to be careful here, Because we have to remember, That David is not Pharaoh, David is not Saul, David is still, The Lord's anointed king, God has made a covenant, Promises to him, And yet, Even this king, The greatest king, And leader Israel has ever had, Cannot reverse what sin has unleashed, If David can't do it, Who can?

[44:41] His failures, Point us to the king, Reborn, And the answer, Is the greater David, Jesus Christ, And where David leads with favoritism, Christ leads with perfect righteousness, Because even in Isaiah 11, It says that he judges, With righteousness as his belt, He doesn't play favorites, In Christ, All are one, Where David's mercy is provisional, And his justice compromised, Christ's mercy, Is grounded, In justice satisfied, At the cross, We see justice is fully satisfied, With God's wrath against sin, Is propitiated completely, Mercy is freely offered, The sinners receiving forgiveness, That they don't deserve, There is no compromise, David's mercy to Shimei, Was provisional,

[45:42] Christ's mercy is eternal, I give them eternal life, And they will never perish, This is the gospel, Ephesians 2 says, Christ is our peace, He made us both one, And broke down the dividing wall, Of hostility in his flesh, Reconciling us both, To God in one body, Through the cross, Political solutions, Cannot heal what sin has divided, Only the cross can, And where David's kingdom, Planted seeds of permanent division, Christ establishes a kingdom, That cannot be shaken, David's return, As we see today, Was contested, Christ's return, As we know, Will be triumphant, And so if you're here this morning, And you're not a Christian, I want you to hear this, I want you to hear this, Plainly and clearly, That the fact that David

[46:43] Couldn't reconcile himself, To his own people, You cannot reconcile yourself, To a holy God, There is nothing, That you can do, That if you are outside of Christ, The Bible says, That you're not merely distant from God, But you are actually at war, With him, By nature, We are not neutral, We are sinners, In the need of peace, With our holy God, But here, Is the mercy, The king, You have resisted, Is the same king, Who came to save, The rebels, Jesus Christ, The perfect, Sinless, Son of God, Died in your place, He bore the wrath, You deserved, He satisfied the justice, You violated, He rose from the dead, To give you, His righteousness, 2 Corinthians 5, Verse 20, It implores, And says,

[47:44] We implore, You on behalf of Christ, Be reconciled to God, So if you're an unbeliever, Repent of your sin, Trust in Christ, Today, There may not be a tomorrow, And for those of you who, And those of us, Who are Christians, We need to hear this question, This question, Should be ringing, Throughout this entire passage, To us, Why speak ye not, Of bringing the king, Back?

[48:15] We do not bring Christ, Back to his throne, He is already, Enthroned, We do not make him king, The father has already, Crowned him, The question is, Whether we will live, As though the king, Has the right to rule us now, Is he your lord, In your heart?

[48:32] Or are you managing, His influence, Like David is trying to manage, And reconcile, Politics, Is he honored, In your family? Or is he only regulated, To this building, This hour, On Sundays?

[48:48] Is he exalted, In your church? Or is there compromise, Or convenience? Are we living, As heralds of his kingdom?

[48:58] Or are we merely, Just talking, About the king, While refusing his rule? Yes, I am a Christian, But then, Your fruits, Of your labor, Might say otherwise, Ephesians 1, Verses 9 through 10, Is God's plan, And it reads, To unite all things in him, Things in heaven, And things on earth, That's where history is headed, That is where we, Are headed, Every knee will bow, Every tongue will confess, Christ will be exalted, And the question is, Church, Will you be one of those, Who labor for his supremacy now?

[49:42] Or you be like Israel, Talking, But not acting, Or like Judah, Acting divisively, Creating more problems, Than you resolve, David, David cannot mend, What sin has torn, His failures, Throve Israel deeper, Into division, Rebellion, And eventual destruction, But his failures, Point us, To the king reborn, Your failures, Believer, Your failures, Christian, Drive you deeper, Into Christ, He is the king, Who cannot fail, The judge, Whose mercy never runs out, The reconciler, Whose justice, Is always perfect, The sovereign, Whose kingdom, Will never be shaken, I want us to look, Beyond David, To the greater David, I want us to look, Beyond the politicians, And the kings, And the representatives, Of this world, To the king, Of kings, I want us,

[50:42] To look beyond, Political solutions, And to the cross, And then live, Live for his supremacy, In your heart, In your home, In your church, And in your world, Why, Speak ye not, Of bringing, The king back, Soli Deo Gloria, Solus Christus, For this glory of God, In Christ alone, Let us pray.