2. SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL
PERSONAL REFLECTION
Reflect on how studying the life of David has helped to teach, encourage and give you hope.
4For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. 5May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Rom 15:4-6
SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL

3. SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL

4. WHAT IS A LEGACY?
(Q) What would you say is the most powerful idea here about legacy? What is your response to this idea?

5. SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL
A STORY OF LEGACY:
SOUTHAMPTON STUDENTS
SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL

6. SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL
DAVID’S STORY: KEY MOMENTS
SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL

7. SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL
1: FAILURE SPREADS: AMNON’S STORY
2 SAM 13-14
She was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her. (13:2).
Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her (13:15).
“When King David heard all this, he was furious. And Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad; he hated Amnon because he had disgraced his sister Tamar.” (13:21-22)
“But he would not punish his son Amnon, because he loved him, since he was his firstborn.” (footnote on 13:22 from Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint).
SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL

8. SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL
1: FAILURE SPREADS: AMNON’S STORY
2 SAM 13-14
1 These were the sons of David born to him in Hebron: the firstborn was Amnon the son of Ahinoam of Jezreel; the second, Daniel the son of Abigail of Carmel; 2 the third, Absalom the son of Maakah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; 3 the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; and the sixth, Ithream, by his wife Eglah. 4 These six were born to David in Hebron, where he reigned seven years and six months. David reigned in Jerusalem for thirty-three years, 5 and these were the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon. These four were by Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel. 6 There were also Ibhar, Elishua, Eliphelet, 7 Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 8 Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet – nine in all. 9 All these were the sons of David, besides his sons by his concubines. And Tamar was their sister. 1 Chronicles 3:1-9
SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL

9. SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Consider what we have been thinking about in terms of Amnon’s story. What would you say are the key things we can learn from this story? Help: You might consider how we might pass on “the good, the bad and the ugly” and/or David’s failure to act in this situation
SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL

10. SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL
1: FAILURE SPREADS: AMNON’S STORY
2 SAM 13-14
“Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.”
2 Samuel 12:10
27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? 28 Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? 29 So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
Proverbs 6:27-29
SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL

11. SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL
2: CONSPIRACY STRIKES: ABSALOM’S STORY
2 SAM 15-19
25 In all Israel there was not a man so highly praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the top of his head to the sole of his foot there was no blemish in him. 26 Whenever he cut the hair of his head – he used to cut his hair once a year because it became too heavy for him – he would weigh it, and its weight was two hundred shekels (~2.3 Kg) by the royal standard.
2 Samuel 14:25-26
SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL

12. SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL
2: CONSPIRACY STRIKES: ABSALOM’S STORY
2 SAM 15-19
ACT 1 – On the run (15:13-16:14):
“If I find favour in the Lord’s eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and His dwelling place again. But if he says, “I am not pleased with you, then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him”. (15:25)
ACT 2 – Frustrated advice (16:15-17:29):
“Ahithophel is among the conspirators” (15:31)
"the LORD had purposed to defeat the good advice of Ahithophel" (17:14)
ACT 3 – The Battle (18:1-18):
ACT 4 – Mourning and Return (18:19-19:43):
“The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: ‘O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you – O Absalom, my son, my son! (18:33).
SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL

13. SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Consider what we have been thinking about in terms of Absalom’s story. What would you say are the key things we can learn from this story? Help: You might consider the consequences of failure, how being on the run might have been a help to David and/or the dangers of rejecting God as King
SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL

14. SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL
3: FINISHING WELL: DAVID’S STORY
2 SAM 22-24, 1 KINGS 1-2
What does it look like to finish well?
SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL

15. SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Summarise what happens in your passage and what it tells us about the way David finishes his life. Appoint someone to feedback. Group 1: Final Songs and Words (2 Sam 22-23) Group 2: Counting the fighting men (2 Sam 24) Group 3: Abishag and another Coup (1 Kings 1) Group 4: Passing onto a new generation (1 Kings 2 (esp. 1-12) & 11:3-6)
SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL

16. SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL
A NEW GENERATION
SOLOMON
3 He had seven hundred wives of
royal birth and three hundred
concubines, and his wives led
him astray.  4 As Solomon grew old,
his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done. 1 Kings 11:4-6
SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL

17. SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL
CONCLUSION:
THE QUESTION OF LEGACY
David’s Legacy
Absalom’s Legacy
SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL

18. SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL
AN UNWANTED LEGACY:
ABSALOM
“During his life-time Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it in the King’s Valley as a monument to himself, for he thought, ‘I have no son to carry on the memory of my name.’ He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom’s Monument to this day.” 
2 Samuel 18:18
SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL

19. SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL
CONCLUSION:
THE QUESTION OF LEGACY
David’s Legacy
Absalom’s Legacy
Our Legacy
SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL

20. SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL
“ALWAYS HOLDING SOMEONE UP”
“Dawson Trotman clambered back into a motorboat one day last week after two hours of water-skiing on Schroon Lake, N.Y. He was dog-tired, but before he settled down he asked one of the two girls in the boat, Allene Beck, if she could swim; when she shook her head, he traded places with her so she would be in a safer spot. Minutes later the speeding boat bounced on a wave, and both of them...shot into the water. He swam to her and held her head above water until the boat could circle back and she was hauled aboard. But as hands reached down to seize Trotman’s hand, he sank out of sight.”
Religion: The Navigator”, 2 July 1956, Time Magazine
SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL

21. SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL
PRAY TOGETHER
Take 5 mins to pray in your groups to pray about how you want to grow and be used by God this year.
SESSION 6: LEGACY: DAVID, ABSALOM AND FINISHING WELL