1. Today is Fathers Day, and I'd like to preach about one of the most famous fathers in the Bible, King David.
2. King David had many children, and many of them had problems.  By reading about his children we can conclude that David was a great king, but a poor father.
3. David was a great king -- perhaps the greatest king in the Bible. But he didn't do a very good job rearing his children.
4. This is important to understand because many men are successful in their careers but are failures as fathers.
5. King David committed adultery with Bath-sheba.  Let me start off by saying that a man who commits adultery cannot be a good husband or a good father.
6. Recently we read in the paper that Robert Kennedy Jr.'s wife hung herself.  Apparently she was severely depressed because Mr. Kennedy was a notorious adulterer.
7. Mr. Kennedy learned all about adultery from his father, who also was a notorious adulterer.  Furthermore, so was his grandfather, and all his uncles, etc.   Sin destroys families, and it is passed on from generation to generation.

I. DAVID'S GREAT SIN

1. First Kings 15:5 says, "Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite."
2. In other words, this sin was the big ugly stain on David's record. David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, except for this sin of adultery and his desperate effort to cover it up.
3. The prophet Nathan said to David, "Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme" (II Sam. 12:14).
4. And even today, three thousand years later, God's enemies still mock the Bible and laugh at King David's sin.
5. King David committed adultery with Bath-sheba, and then he had her husband killed on the battlefield. After this terrible sin was exposed, Nathan rebuked him and said these words: "Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house" (II Sam. 12:10-12).
6. David did repent, and his repentance is recorded for us in Psalms 32 and 51.
7. And because David repented, God did not kill him. And it is clear from the text that if David had not repented, God would have killed him (II Sam. 12:13).
8. By the way, this principle is taught all throughout Scripture. First John 5:16 calls it the "sin unto death."
9. Hebrews 12:9 says, "Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?"
10. First Corinthians 11:29 warns about Christians taking the Lord's Supper unworthily, and then adds, "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep (die)."
11. David was forgiven, and David did not die, but his baby died (12:14). James 1:15 says, "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
12. When the child was sick, David fasted and wept. But after the baby died, David ate some food and he felt better (12:15-20).
13. His servants could not understand this so David explained himself to them (12:21-23).
14. Then, later on, another son, Amnon, died.
15. Amnon was murdered by his younger half-brother Absalom. Concerning the death of Amnon, we are told that David "wept very sore" (13:36) and "mourned for his son every day" (13:37).
16. And then, a few years later Absalom died. And David took his death very, very badly. His grief was inconsolable.
17. The Bible says David "was much moved," and he wept and he cried out: "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!" (18:33; cf. 19:4).
18. These are some of the saddest and pitiful words ever recorded.
19. Shakespeare has King Lear carrying his dead daughter Cordelia in his arms, and crying out, "Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stones: Had I your tongues and eyes, I'd use them so That heaven's vault should crack. She's gone for ever!"
20. Those are sad words indeed, but nothing like King David's!
21. I believe David was overwhelmed with grief when Absalom died because David knew that while his baby son went to heaven and he would meet him there (12:23), he did not have that same assurance about Absalom. I think David knew Absalom did not go to heaven.
22. Many years ago I heard a preacher say, "You cannot bring your money to heaven. You cannot bring your possessions to heaven. The only thing you can bring to heaven with you is your children."
23. But many dads are not bringing their children to heaven.
24. Many dads are not even trying.
25. In fact, many dad are not interested in going to heaven themselves.  They are carelessly heading toward hell, and they are bringing their children with them.
26. I heard about a boy who was walking behind his father through the snow, and when his dad asked him what he was doing, the little boy said, "Dad, I am walking in your footsteps!"
27. Dads, are your children walking in your footsteps?  In which direction are you leading?
28. David was concerned that Absalom went to hell, and what made it even more painful was that David knew he was partly to blame for the way things turned out.
29. Fathers: are you doing everything possible to see to it that your children are going to heaven?
30. Or are you helping to send them straight to hell?
31. Some dads seldom attend church.  They never pray and read the Bible with their children.  Then they wonder why their children are heading straight toward hell.

II. DAVID REAPED WHAT HE SOWED.

1. The Bible says, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting" (Galatians 6:7, 8).
2. David reaped what he sowed. David sowed to his flesh, and of the flesh he reaped corruption.
3. David’s greatest sin was seducing Bath-sheba and then having her husband killed in battle. Nathan the prophet told him that God would not let him get away with this.
4. And later on, when David was fleeing from his own son Absalom, he knew he was suffering under the disciplinary hand of God.
5. For example, when the rascal Shimei cursed him, David admitted that the Lord allowed it happen for a reason (16:5-13). David humbly submitted to God’s chastening.
6. But it was too late for Absalom. He knew nothing of the love of God. He knew nothing of the grace of God. And he died a horrible death, while suspended from a tree he was slain by ten soldiers (18:14, 15).
7. And II Samuel 18:33 records the grief-stricken King David, crying out: "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom!"
8. Absalom was probably in hell and David was partly to blame.

III. DAVID SHOULD HAVE PUNISHED AMNON FOR HIS HORRIBLE CRIME (II SAM. 13:21-23).

1. Amnon raped his half-sister Tamar, and there is no indication in Scripture that David did anything about it. Second Samuel 13:21 says that when king David heard the report, "he was very wroth."
2. "He was very wroth," but he didn't do any thing. David should have punished Amnon but he didn't.  Perhaps because of his own moral failures, particularly his sinful behaviour with Bath-sheba, David was a very lenient and indulgent father.
3. One preacher said: "It is difficult to wield a heavy sword with a maimed arm" (Alfred Edersheim).
4. It is very difficult for a father to tell his children to do right when he himself has not done right. This was David’s problem.
5. If David would have punished Amnon as he should have, Absalom would not have taken matters into his own hands and murdered him (II Sam. 13:19-39). Things would have turned out differently.

IV. DAVID SHOULD HAVE FORGIVEN ABSALOM (14:21-24, 28).

1. After Absalom killed Amnon, he fled to Geshur, where his maternal grandparents lived (13:37).
2. He stayed there for three full years (13:38).  His bitterness grew as he considered how his father David was unjust for not punishing Amnon.
3. Hebrews 12:15 says, "Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled."
4. Absalom was defiled by allowing the root of bitterness to spring up and consume him.
5. Joab, David’s general, tricked David into calling for Absalom. He fetched a wise woman from Tekoah, who persuaded David to bring Absalom home (14:1-3,12-14,19-23).
6. But David did not reconcile with Absalom (14:24-28). Half-hearted forgiveness is worse than no forgiveness at all (14:32). The stage was now set for an insurrection.
7. First of all, Absalom was not repentant. And he was very bitter towards his father David.
8. Furthermore, David made no effort to see Absalom or to genuinely forgive him. This was a big blunder, and David would pay dearly for it.
9. After Absalom had Joab’s barley fields set on fire, Joab brought him to David (14:28-33). It had been seven years since Tamar had been raped and five years since the murder of Amnon.
10. For five years Absalom had not seen his father. All the while he was quietly planning on taking over the kingdom. Finally, Absalom made his move (15:10-13).
11. One cannot help but wonder how all of this could have been avoided if David was not such a negligent father. But David was a negligent father and his son Absalom grew to hate him (cf. 17:1-4).
12. David effectively broke the natural bond of affection that a father has with his son and he inadvertently turned Absalom into his bitter adversary.
13. Things got worse, and civil war broke out. And at Mount Ephraim, 20,000 men were killed in battle (18:7). One man’s sin can destroy thousands – even millions of others.
14. David specifically gave orders to his men to "deal gently" with Absalom (18:5), but Joab disobeyed his command (18:9-17).
15. This brings us to the end of this sad story. David is sitting between the two gates. He is waiting for news about the battle. And the watchman informs him that a man is running toward them (18:24-33).

CONCLUSION:

1. A horticulturist by the name of Luther Burbank gave this warning many years ago: "If we had paid no more attention to our plants than we have to our children, we would now be living in a jungle of weeds."
2. As I go out knocking on doors week after week I see many beautiful lawns and gardens, but I also see many wild and unruly children.
3. As fathers we cannot pass the blame on to others. God has given us the responsibility to make sure our children turn out right.
4. Dads, first make sure you are saved. Then after that is settled, make up your mind that you are going to raise your children God's way.
5. Children learn by example.  If Dad does not read the Bible, his children will think Bible-reading is not very important.
6. If Dad stays home and skips the church service, his children will assume preaching is not very interesting.

You ask me why I go to church;

I give my mind a careful search.

Because I need to breathe the air

Where there's an atmosphere of prayer.

I need the hymns that Christians sing;

They set my faith and hope on wing.

They keep old truths and memory green,

Reveal the work of things unseen.

Because my boy is watching me

To know whatever he can see

That tells him what his father thinks.

And with his eager soul he drinks

The things I do in daily walks,

The things I say in daily talks.

If I with him the church will share,

My son will make his friendships there.