2020-4-3

II Samuel 16:1-23

II Samuel Chapter 10-20 outlined David’s kingship in weaknesses and failures.

From chapter 15, David fled from his son Absalom to avoid a bloodbath in Jerusalem. He met Ziba, the steward of Mephibosheth. He was an opportunist who seeked to reap profit from this political crisis. David gained political alliance with Ziba by giving all that belonged to Mephibosheth to Ziba.

David did not counsel God in this matter. He made a rush decision in order to gain as many political allies as possible while he was on the run. 

David saw what was pleasing to his eyes at that moment (donkey, bread, fruits and the wine). He also did not investigate Ziba’s credibility. He made this decision out of his flesh.

The principle I learn from this passage: Do not make hasty decisions. Favoritism may hurt others without you realizing it.

The second paragraph records a man called Shimei cursing David. He threw stones toward David, his officials and troops. Abishai, son of Zeruiah, wanted to kill Shimei to stop his nonsense. David stopped Abishai from killing Shimei. David replied to Abisha: “If he is cursing because the Lord said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why do you do this’. Later, David said: ‘It may be that the Lord will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today’.

The principle I learn from this passage is “God is sovereign. He is in control of our destiny even when bad things happen around us. He can turn bad things to good for our benefits”.

The third paragraph describes the advice of Hushai and Ahithophel. Hushai and Ahithophel became close counsels for Absalom. Hushai, a spy for King David whose purpose was to turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness ll Samuel 15:31b.
On the other hand, Ahithophel, the grandfather of Bathsheba betrayed King David and secretly aligned himself to Absalom.

Ahithophel suggested Absalom to lie with his father’s concubines in order to signify his royal power. This fulfilled Nathan’s prophecy ‘Out of your own household, I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel’ (ll Samuel 12:11-12).

The principle I learn from this passage is: God’s prophecies never fail.
Today, my coworker asked me, Do you know your greatest asset at this time? (Prior to that, she told me how the COVID 19 affects her retirement fund). Her answer is your health is your greatest asset. Frankly speaking, I agreed with her at that moment. During this pandemic, our basic needs are being threatened. We find peace by stockpiling different items. We also see our 401K turns into 201K in just a few hours. Some of us may find peace by waiting for a buying signal when the stock market hits bottom. We do social distancing to avoid asymptomatic virus carriers. Only we find that, we are not that close anyway. However, when I prepare this blog, God reminds me that He is my greatest asset. There is time we may need social distancing in order to avoid spiritual distancing from God. We can spend more time to reflect our relationship with God and each other. This pandemic slows us down for a reason.          —- Alan Yam