THE INCIDENT SET FORTH IN OUR TEXT
David was at the zenith of his power and his throne was established. The prophet had just told him that his name was to endure and his glory to continue in his house. The son coming after him was to build a house for God’s glory. In a lesser man the promise of such glory would have erected pride and vanity. A meaner man would have said: “Look at me, at the success I’ve achieved, the glory I’ve won.” But David went in and set humbly before the God who had taken him from the sheepfold and set him on a throne. His words were not “Look at me,” but, “Who am I and what is my father’s house?” I know no picture of truer humility than this great king sitting in humility and giving the praise and the glory to God. Now we can turn to the lessons the incident has for us.
SUCCESS AND EXALTATION NEED NOT SPOIL A MAN
They so often do that. Many people are afraid of them and fear for those who become prosperous and rich. But prosperity as well as adversity may be God’s gift and can be used to His glory. There is nothing sinister in the bright things given us by God. Here was a man to whom the brightest luminaries had come, and because he maintained a humble spirit, he was not only unspoiled, his success ministered to his own good and was made a blessing to others. It would be a shame not to acknowledge that there are other men and women who have gained success and honor and who have remained humble and unspoiled. They have regarded themselves, not as self-made, but as God-made and their riches and honor have been used for God’s glory and the good of their fellows. Cultivate a church in the grace of humility and you need not fear, but rather rejoice, in all the good things God gives you and your friends. But let us go further and learn a lesson that applies to more of us.
THE GRACES OF HUMILITY AND GRATITUDE ARE ALWAYS LINKED
It is humility that makes us gratefully accept the unmerited favors and undeserved mercy of God. It is pride that makes us take things as a matter of course and all the gifts of Providence and of grace as if we had a right to them and no right to be grateful. Too often we ache or a pain calls forth a lament but the joy and light of years call forth no hymn of praise. “What have I done,” we ask, “that I should suffer and remain poor? Who is David, or the other man, that he should be prosperous?” Ah! It is our pride breaking out. Why should we not take our share of hardships? Who are we that we should be spared? And there is a precaution. Instead of lamenting the adversities, try counting your blessings. Who are we? What have we done that the blessing of health, the gift of love, and friendship should be ours? Who are we that the incredible mercy of God in Jesus Christ should be ours? If in infinite wisdom God casts our lot in circumstances not as bright as others enjoy, who are we to question His appointments. Let us cherish the virtue of humility and counting our blessings and we shall bring our song of praise for the streams of the mercy God sends.
HUMILITY THE TEMPER IN WHICH TO RECEIVE NECESSARY REPROOFS
For the last lesson, we leave this incident and turn to another which reveals the same temper. There was a time when the king had done wrong and stained his name with the deepest sins. The prophet Nathan was sent to rebuke him and fulfilled his ministry faithfully, bringing the king’s guilt home to him. Again, you can understand how a proud man would have acted. He would have said, “Who are you to speak to the king so?” Instead, this humble man said, “Woe is me.” Instead of bursting into passion and standing on his dignity, he melted into repentance and confession and poured out his soul in the 51st Psalm.
How some of us cannot bear being corrected and reproved even when we know we are wrong. How we resent those who speak words of rebuke even when we deserve them. And always it is our pride that puts us in a passion. Who are we to be thus spoken to? The way of humility, David’s way, is the nobler way, the only way into peace and joy.
Let us strive to be among the humble souls who see their own emptiness and poverty, who accept correction and reproof in a humble temper, and who, to say the least, find themselves among God’s own children. Let us say from humble hearts, “Who am I that this incredible mercy should have reached me?”
“CONCERNING THE SAFETY OF YOUNG PEOPLE”—2 Samuel 18.29
(A Decision Day sermon preached four times from Patricroft 5/29 to Katherine Road 10/16/29)
2 Samuel 18.29 “Is the young man Absalom safe?”
Behind the text is one of the most dramatic and moving stories of the Old Testament. David, as you know, had been driven from home and throne by the rebellion led by his handsome and cruel son Absalom. When the messenger came from the field in which the decisive battle was fought, the king was lost in the father. David’s first question was not, “How has the battle gone?” but, “Is my son safe?” When the news was broken that his soldiers had triumphed, but his son slain, all the glory of the victory was gone, all his son’s base ingratitude was forgotten, and there came from David’s broken heart the most poignant wail of sorrow that ever fell from mortal lips: “Absalom, my son, would God I had died for thee!”
It was necessary to say that much about the story and some day we must return to it. But for this special day I want to lift the text from its context and ask the king’s question concerning our young people. Are they safe? Is it well with them? I deliberately put the query in Dr. Moffatt’s colloquial translation—“Is young Absalom all right?”
We are familiar with the question as it relates to the physical, mental, and material well-being of our young people. We consult a doctor about their health. We sacrifice our comforts to educate their minds. We try to secure them a business appointment that will give them a safe job for life and a comfortable pension. And no sane man quarrels with that! Our quarrel is with those who are careless and slip-shod in these matters and who allow their children to go out into the world with ill-nurtured bodies, badly equipped minds, and into blind alleys.
But even when we are satisfied that our young people are fit in body and mind for the battle of life, there is a further question to be faced: is all right morally and spiritually with our young people? That is the supreme question and we have not given it the consideration it deserves. The days in which we live make it imperative that we should face it. Our young people are facing dangers that did not exist for us. The conditions of life and labor expose them to enormous risks. The liberty they demand and are taking is fraught with peril for them.
Reading some of the horrible cases brought by the papers to our notice we have wondered what parents were about that they did not know where or with whom their young folk were. One can only conclude they supposed it was all right. And I insist that when the safety of your young people is concerned, you ought not to be content with suppositions. Of course, I know that you cannot always be with them and that as they grow up they will choose their own way. But there are some things you can do to safeguard them and secure their well-being.
You can forearm by forewarning them. It is quite clear that in these days they cannot live the sheltered and shielded life of years ago. At school, in business, in books and pictures things are freely discussed that once would have been forbidden. Your young folk will learn many things you did not know at their age. It is for us, and especially those who are parents, to take trouble to find out what they are learning and where. Do you know what they are reading? Or what films they go see? Do you take trouble to perform the delicate and difficult task of informing them and safeguarding them against the temptations peculiar to youth in these days? Reverently and earnestly I say, don’t for God’s sake and their sake let them learn life’s most intimate things from rotten yellow-backed novels or unworthy films. You needn’t preach at them, you can wisely and lovingly forewarn and so forearm them.
Further, it is impossible to exaggerate the safeguarding influences of godly lives and pious examples. Many a young fellow is kept straight in the midst of temptation by the memory of what his father was. Many a girl simply cannot go wrong while memory