Introduction

Hello everyone! Today let us look at 2 Samuel chapter 3. The main topic of this chapter is “ This sin shall not be imputed to me or to my kingdom!” Why are we talking about this? You must understand God takes the shedding of human blood very seriously. When Noah came out of the Ark, God made a covenant with him. God will punish the sin of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generation.

The shedding of human blood is a fatal matter. If a place often occurred unjustified case and blood is often shed, then the sin will make the place cursed. That place will get worse and worse. Brothers and sisters must understand that God is not looking lightly upon the sin of shedding innocent blood. It was clearly stated in the book of Genesis.

At the time of David, David was aware of the effects of sin and took sin very seriously. If you do not take sin seriously enough, you are in trouble. You must understand a sin is a sin. Even you are a Christian and you sin, you are still under a curse. If you eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, you will be cursed.

Yesterday, I served a sister who suddenly caught a cold and aching all over her body. She came to me to pray for her. She had running nose. She was the one who almost lost her life after taking the COVID-19 Vaccine. One of the pastoral leaders and I had been ministering to her and help her to recover from the adverse effects of the vaccine.

Why does this happen? It is closely related to man’s attitude toward sin. We need to understand this very well. During the time of Adam & Eve, eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil meant death. Now, in our generation, eating the fruit of good and evil, will it cause us death as well? Answer is yes, we will die if we consume the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Today, I am talking about “This sin shall not be imputed to me or to my kingdom!” We must start to learn from David, to hate sin and vigilant to sin. David had the attitude of drawing a clear boundary between sin. David was a remarkable person as he understood sin clearly than most people. When we understand sin well, we will become stronger and not living in ruins.

Why do you think we often encourage our brothers and sisters to learn to love God? When we do not love God but love money and the worldly things, we will be completely controlled by sin, and we will be extremely difficult to be strong. If you love the worldly things more than God and you are living under the curse. "This sin shall not be imputed to me or to my kingdom." These words are very important. Imputed meant not to return to me, in another words the sins not to return to me or to my kingdom. If this sin is brought against you and your country, you and your country will die! That would end badly. Our God is a holy God. Everyone must learn to be a holy person. How can we become holy? It must start with loving God.

The house of David grows stronger

At Hebron, David became the King, he led the tribe of Judah as he was the from the tribe of Judah. The key to the growing strength of the house of David and the tribe of Judah was that David had a deep understanding of sin and an uncompromising attitude towards sin. In the previous chapter, we talked about " King David treated his people with kindness and honesty". This is very interesting when you look at David, his first concern was thinking how to please God. Later, the Book of Kings mentioned many times and one of verse from 1 Kings 14: 8 “but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes.”** Therefore, it is very important to understand sin and draw a clear line between sin!**

David's attitude towards sin was keen. Why did David not use force and order his captain Joab to attack the various tribes of Israel? If they attack the various tribes of Israel, many David’s people would die, and the opponents would also have many people dead. The people were unwilling to surrender and were willing to serve their own king under Mephibosheth, son of Saul.

It was not impossible for David to attack the various tribes of Israel, but David knew that this was not good because it was shedding human blood. Now, I am going to throw you a question, is your throne more important or is God’s will be more important? ** If you think the throne is more important than God's will, you will do anything for your throne. Many people might think “What’s a big deal about a few more people dying in order to get the throne? But David thought otherwise because David was very clear about the cost of sin. Whether you are an individual, a company or a country, if you want to be strong and prosperous, you must value God more than your own business, family, personal interests, and throne. It is a very difficult decision to choose.

Why are people so busy? It is not that there is insufficient time, but the ample time is taken up elsewhere. If one day I tell you, I am very busy! I do not have time! What does that mean? It’s just that you are not important, I have many other more important things. If we do not have time to pay attention to God and we have more important things to do, do you think this is appropriate? It doesn’t seem appropriate! If you sanctify your daily Bible study time and give it to God, will you suffer a loss? If you feel like you are getting the short end of the stick, you are going to get the short end of the stick. If you feel that you are not at a disadvantage, then you really will not be at a disadvantage and will become stronger day by day. The main problem of sin is your relationship with God. There was a man in this chapter named Abner, Saul’s commander. Abner was killed by Joab. This was a serious matter, which led to David’s words:

Later, when David heard about this, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the Lord concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner. 2 Samuel 3:28 NIV

You must know that shedding of human blood is not a joke. It is also a great thing is to put God above one’s throne and core interests. This chapter begins with this sentence:

The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time. David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker. 2 Samuel 3:1 NIV

There are many interesting things mentioned in this this chapter that David had many wives and I admired him. Why do I admire him? For many like us, we have difficulty in managing one wife. David had many wives and had many sons in Hebron. If you ask me if this is a sin? I do not think it is a sin but if you apply the law of the country that is called polygamy. Many Muslim countries still maintain polygamy. If you want to be like David having so many wives, then you can immigrate to the country that permit.

Whether it is monogamy or polygamy, let me ask you, does this matter to God? God does not think it is important, so let us not to get involved with the current laws. During the time of David, God was not bother with David having many wives or one wife. God did not take it seriously, but he made David stronger and stronger day by day. Do you still think God cares about this? God does not care at all!

When we were studying the book of Genesis, many people often discuss to criticise about Abraham had several wives and Jacob married 4 wives. I am unsure if they are checking the current legal obligations or checking the old testaments in the bible.

David’s first wife was named Michal, who was Saul's daughter. Michal loved David very much, but Saul betrothed her to someone else. This time David wanted to get his first wife Michal back. Was David short of a wife? Moreover, Michal’s second husband cried his heart out when he was about to lose his wife. That was quite pitiful. Do you think this is a crime? Does that count as destroying someone’s family? In fact, this matter is not important.

But Michal was indeed David’s wife, and David wanted to take this wife back to him and treat her well. David valued what God valued, not what men valued. You value what God values, and you do not value what people value. A person’s strength lies entirely in this, so the house of David grew stronger day by day. What can we say? God blessed David for what he did. Everything David did pleased God and prevented many people from dying on the battlefield. Peaceful unification began with David, who unified Judah and the other eleven tribes. At that time, the small nation of Israel was not very big, and it had two kings. One king was Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, and the other was David. David was in-charge of one tribe, and Ishbosheth was in charge of the other eleven tribes.

Ishbosheth often sent Abner to attack Judah. The last time they fought a battle, they were defeated by David. We rarely see David leading people to attack Ishbosheth. In fact, it was not defeated, but David peacefully unified the country. This incident shows that David valued what God valued more than his own throne and more than his own achievements. David would not think that he was anointed king of Israel and said: “Why don’t the eleven tribes come and submit to me?” What will happen if people do not submit? Are you going to fight? But David did not do that.

God has a small rule in this matter, which is that people should look at the big picture and not the small picture. Many people like to look at small trivial things, so it is difficult to be strong. All you have in your mind are all these trivial things. It would be weird if you are not busy. Why? All because your minds are confused. If you prioritize things well, how can you be busy?

In fact, if we use force for unification is not a wise option because many people will die. To become stronger day by day, we must learn to value what God values. I deeply understand how to walk this rod to become strong and prosperous, I want to imitate David and not pursuing my core interests, but values what God values. We need to think carefully and ask ourselves, What is our core interest? Is it God or ourselves? If you want to judge a person's character, just judge his core interests.

If you judge that this person's core interest is money, you must be especially careful, because he will do anything for money. Therefore, we should value God more than our own core interests. David put all his core interests in God. If God gives me a chance, I will be united. If God does not give me a chance, then I will wait slowly. , I have plenty of time.

Saul's house grew weaker

Why did Saul's family become so weak? No matter if you are a leader of a country, a leader of a company or a leader of the family. If you are a petty person, treating trivial things as a big deal, you will be in big trouble. Few days ago, a brother told me, if a woman oversees the house, the house will collapse. This is only a saying , but not what I meant. But this is interesting as it applies when a woman is in charge of the house, the house collapses. Why? Women is like a magnifying glass as they enlarge smallest things into a large thing. When a woman is in charge of the house, she likes to pay attention to small things and made them into a big deal.

Ishbosheth was an interesting person. Abner was his commander-in-chief and made great contributions to him by leading troops in battles. Abner brought Rizpah, a concubine of his father, King Saul, and he liked her very much. I am certain that he was mesmerized completely by Rizpah’s beauty. As the king of Israel, Ishbosheth was incapable of fighting, lack of leadership leading an army, and lack of ability to manage the economy. Instead of taking care of the people's livelihood, economy, and national development, he instead took care of Abner's personal affairs. It was the view of a woman.

Although Ishbosheth became king, his heart was like a peanut and his head was like a walnut. Such a person could not manage the country well. How did people become Pharisees? They do not take in the truth that God cares about seriously but treating trivial matters into a big deal. If people cannot grasp the key points in life, wouldn't it be ruined? Later I discovered that people who fail to grasp the key points will really collapse.

How can we know whether this person has grasped the key points? It depends on whether he is busy or not. Few years ago, I have invited a descendant of the royal family. Their ancestors passed down a saying stating that if the king is idle and the ministers are idle, the country will perish. If the king is busy and the ministers are busy, the country will prosper. After he finished telling me, I felt that I was not an idle person, I do a lot of things, but I am never busy like a bee. This requires a little cleverness. What's the reason? Just focus on the key points. Later, I encountered some very powerful people, and I found that they were all not hectic people and had extremely clear heads.

I learned from them, and you will find one of my characteristics is that I am not a hectic person, and I can put everything down and handle everything well. I have grasp clearly and understand that hectic is walking to the road of destruction. I like to be a nosy even though no one asks me to shepherd, I will still take the initiative to shepherd someone. Guess what response I got from the person who I initiated to shepherd? They told me they are very busy. I questioned them why are you so busy? They shown me what they are so busy, and I almost fell from the chair, they have dozens of things to do.

After reading, I was devastated, now I know the reason for their chaotic situation and on the road of destruction. Their head is muddled, how can they be, ok? There are very few things that they wrote were right. Many things they wrote were without strategies and methods. If there are still such people among us, then I must remind you, are you going to grow weaker day by day? Living your days in destruction is easy just like a blind person doing things without seeing. All you are concern are the nitty gritty things of your daily living just like Ishbosheth who feared Abner.

Abner was manipulative to Ishbosheth behaving like he was above him. We must understand walking the prosperous path. If you ask me, how do I walk the road of prosperity? It means to value what God values and not value what God does not value. Some people said to me, do you also want to have polygamy? My replied to them was “I can't handle one wife and I better learn from Paul who did not want any of them. Besides, this matter is not important. I did not come to this world for one woman, nor did I come to this world for two or three women.

Finally, I came to this world, I lived for God, died for God, and lived for God. I am unstoppable and anyone who tries to stop me will be left behind. This is a prosperous road so no matter what I do, I proper. David became the king of Judah at the age of thirty and if David had lived to seventy, there would be forty years left, and he would have been able to bring the eleven tribes of Israel to his name.

Davis was not in the hurry, and he had ample time to become the King. God could make David’s life easy by taking the Kingdom and hand it over to David, but God did not do it. God was testing David and check what level was he in and whether he valued the throne more than God. God gave David a test by giving him a tribe of Judah. If David was too impatient, he would be defeated by the eleven tribes because it went against God's will. As a result, after God tested David, he found that this boy was not bad. He really cared about what God said and valued God's words more than his own throne. As a result, God gave the entire kingdom of Israel to David.

God gave the kingdom to David

God did not give the Kingdom to David under a bad condition. Ishbosheth was a stingy man, and he managed the country so poorly and the commoners were living a very tough life. A foolish King who had conflict with Abner because of a woman.

Now Saul had had a concubine named Rizpah daughter of Aiah. And Ish-Bosheth said to Abner, “Why did you sleep with my father’s concubine?” 2 Samuel 3:7 NIV

When Abner heard this, he thought to himself: Are you seeking death?

Abner was very angry because of what Ish-Bosheth said. So he answered, “Am I a dog’s head—on Judah’s side? This very day I am loyal to the house of your father Saul and to his family and friends. I haven’t handed you over to David. Yet now you accuse me of an offense involving this woman! May God deal with Abner, be it ever so severely, if I do not do for David what the Lord promised him on oath
2 Samuel 3:8-9 NIV

God gave David the Kingdom without using one soldier as in Abner’s heart, David was a very good leader and a very good king. We must know if we care about small trivial things, you will not be a successful person as well as those who follow suit will also be unlucky. Therefore, those who follow me as my pastoral leaders, I must expand your mind, your realm and vision to ensure that your current mind is unable to hold the kingdom of God. Experience God’s expansion on your mind to follow the example of David who God was pleased and valued what God valued. If all you care are all the nitty gritty things and trivial things, how can you bless others?

God gave the Kingdom of Israel to David without shedding of human blood as David had a very good image in the minds of the people. What should you do if you are a boss or a leader of a company? You must be kind, and you must not be a soft person. You must be smart and wise; you must know what is important and what is not. You must not be an unscrupulous person, snatching someone else possession. David was so powerful that his warriors were even willing to risk their lives to get him water. David was a man worthy of our imitation.

There was one person who did not like the fact that David was gaining the Kingdom of Israel. This person was not the issue, but the main issue was the evil spirit behind him, and he was David’s general, Joab. Joab stabbed Abner who came to submit to David, was a commander in Army, a man with great martial arts and a extremely talented man leading troops in battles. God created an opportunity for David but the devil disliked David gaining the Kingdon of Israel, so the devil came to ruin David’s reputation and caused the people to hate David. The devil made used of this situation to manipulate Joab the subordinate of David to kill Abner who had won many hearts of Israelites. When David found out that Joab and his brother Abishai killed Abner, David said in the following verse.

Later, when David heard about this, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever innocent before the Lord concerning the blood of Abner son of Ner. 2 Samuel 3:28 NIV

Joab was a general, but all kinds of curses would befall his descendants. God wanted to give David the kingdom, but the devil failed to destroy it. David knew very well that the guilt of the blood of Abner belonged not to him or his kingdom, but to Joab. Therefore, if David did not have wisdom, heart, and determination, he would be in trouble. He would be afraid of Joab just like Ishbosheth was afraid of Abner. Now, let us apply this situation into ourselves , if one of us was working and the boss hired someone to come, would you be like Joab? If you are like Joab, you are in big trouble, and it means you are not broad-minded enough. This incident brought a challenge to David, and as a result, David achieved another good result, which was to have an uncompromising attitude towards sin.

Whatever David did, pleased the people

The devil’s plan was to ruin David’s reputation and used Joab to kill Abner. David arranged a grand funeral for Abner, David was wailing and mourning behind the coffin of Abner. If you said if it is only for a show, probably true. Most importantly, one’s attitude toward sin is very important and he buried Abner well in Hebron.

They buried Abner in Hebron, and the king wept aloud at Abner’s tomb. All the people wept also.
The king sang this lament for Abner: “Should Abner have died as the lawless die? Your hands were not bound, your feet were not fettered. You fell as one falls before the wicked.” And all the people wept over him again. Then they all came and urged David to eat something while it was still day; but David took an oath, saying, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!” 2 Samuel 3:33-35 NIV

If you follow a pastor whose attitude toward sin is the same as David's attitude toward sin, you will prosper. Brothers and sisters, no matter if you are little shepherds or big shepherds, please bear in mind when leading people, you must imitate David and have a clear understanding of sin. All the people were pleased with what David did, and all the people were called David's name. David had an upper hand with all the support from the people, he begun to lead the people on a more powerful path. The country David oversaw was the most powerful kingdom in the history of Israel, so people's views on sin were important. Let us see how David cursed Joab:

May his blood fall on the head of Joab and on his whole family! May Joab’s family never be without someone who has a running sore or leprosy or who leans on a crutch or who falls by the sword or who lacks food.” 2 Samuel 3:29 NIV

When we come across people, walking on crutches, killed by swords, lacking food, suffering from Leprosy, you read the above verse and you will know the reason. Perhaps our ancestors had a man like Joab who often shed innocent blood. Our dear brothers and sisters, we must be careful not to do what Joab did for our own benefit. If you are like Joab, many curses will befall on you.

Admit our weaknesses

And today, though I am the anointed king, I am weak, and these sons of Zeruiah are too strong for me. May the Lord repay the evildoer according to his evil deeds!”2 Samuel 3:39 NIV

David admitted to God that he was weak and could not bring himself to Kill Joab to pay his sins for killing Abner. Therefore, it is always good for a man to admit his weakness before God. David had no way to deal with Joab as one of his two sons of Zeruiah was David's general. Joab was David's captain until his death. David cherished talents and failed to save Abner's life. This incident was a shortcoming in his life.

Did David know that Joab was pursuing Abner to kill him? David was a smart person, how could he be unaware? He should know about it. Id David had stopped Joab at that time, probably a tragedy might have been avoided. What I would like to share today is about “This sin shall not be imputed to me or to my kingdom!” It was not David’s who did this, and he did a series of events to show that the sin was not his fault or his country’s. David hoped that the country of Israel could continue to be strong.

May God bless everyone.