Encourage Your Friends (vv. 4-5). In these verses, David speaks to his own followers, some of whom were so overcome by their emotions that they were about to get out of hand. David gave them six instructions, all of which are useful to us today when we find ourselves getting angry.

(1) Tremble before the Lord (4a). Believers who fear the Lord need not fear anything else. Absalom’s followers trembled neither before the Lord nor before their rightful king.

(2) Don’t sin (4b). Sinful anger leads to sinful words and deeds and even to murder (Matt. 5:21-26). Paul quoted this verse in Ephesians 4:26, using the Septuagint (Greek version of the Old Testament). It reads, “Be angry, and do not sin” (nkjv), which reminds us that not all anger is sinful. There is a holy anger against sin that ought to be in the heart of every believer (Mark 3:5), but we must be careful not to be guilty of unholy anger.

(3) Search your own hearts (4c). It’s easy to get angry at the sins of others and ignore our own sins (Matt. 7:1-5). In fact, David himself was guilty of doing this (2 Sam. 12:1-7). Some translate this phrase, “Speak to your own heart” (see 10:6, 11, 13). Instead of tossing and turning in bed because of the things others are doing, take inventory and see if there aren’t sins in your own heart that need to be confessed.

(4) Be still (4d). The Amplified Bible translates this, “Be … sorry for the things you say in your heart.” Another translation is “Say so in your own heart,” that is, “Say to your own heart, Sin not.” The honest searching of the heart should lead us to confess our sins to the Lord and claim His gracious forgiveness (1 John 1:9).

(5) Offer right sacrifices (5a). They couldn’t offer them there in the wilderness, but they could promise the Lord they would do so when they returned to Jerusalem. This is what Jonah did (Jonah 2:9). Absalom was offering insincere and hypocritical sacrifices to impress the people (2 Sam. 15:12), but God didn’t accept them. (See Ps. 50:14-15.)

(6) Trust the Lord (5b). Absalom was trusting his leadership, his army, his clever strategy, and his popularity with the people; but he wasn’t trusting the Lord. His plans were destined to fail.

David was not only a great king and military strategist, but he was also a loving shepherd who cared for his people and wanted them to walk with the Lord. David knew that the spiritual condition of his people was far more important than their military skill, for the Lord gives victory to those who trust and obey (Ps. 51:16-19).