Renewed Loyalties
2 Samuel 19:9-43
Click on the link above to read today’s story from 2 Samuel 19. Remember, my words mean nothing compared to the Scriptures. If you’re only going to read one thing today, skip my comments and just read the Bible story. I always put in this link when I feel the reading is a little long to be included here. Below, you will find a few verses from 1 Kings which I believe relate to the 2 Samuel passage. I’ve included those for you.
One of my clearest memories of the first few weeks of my marriage is a little odd. For some reason, during meals I managed to tip my drink over inevitably heading the spilled liquid toward my new husband. This happened 3 or 4 times a week for several weeks! I’m happy to report I’ve gotten over that 34 years later. But – during those meals there was always mess to clean up. Cliff would just look at me with a “not again” look. He’s a patient man. As I read through our section of David’s story for today, my first thought was, now he’s got a mess to clean up. Absalom’s attempt at overthrow has left the kingdom in chaos.
God’s people now need to make some choices. Are they going to let the past go and realign themselves with David? Or are they going to look for a new king now that Absalom is gone? As David heads back over the Jordan River into Jerusalem he is met with three different people who are making that choice and recognizing David as king once again. First, we find Shimei come before David and ask forgiveness for his earlier treatment. We have already talked to that event in this devotional series, so we’ll let that go for now. (See the entry for January 27.) Of interest today is the arrival of Mephibosheth to claim fealty to David once again. While we dealt with this event earlier also (see the entry for January 26) we will examine it again today from a new angle.
David now stands in a place of having to discern the motives of those who did not stand with him during Absalom’s coup. A lack of caution at this time will spell trouble in the future. And so we have the arrival of Mephibosheth. He claims that he was left behind because of his lame legs, unable to saddles his own donkey in order that he might join David. Ziba (Mephibosheth’s servant and the one who takes care of his lands) claimed that his master was vying for the throne and so a traitor to David. As a result, David had given Mephibosheth’s land to Ziba. Now, it is time to discern who is telling the truth and who is lying. David does an interesting thing. He divides the land between the two men. And the reaction from Mephibosheth is telling. He offers all of the land to Ziba! Was this a test by David to see who truly should get the land? This whole in incident reminds one of another such story, only this one involved the life of an infant rather than just some land. This story happened to David’s son, Solomon, after he became king.
1 Kings 3:16–28
16 Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
17 The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house.
18 Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house.
19 And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him.
20 And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast.
21When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne.”
22 But the other woman said, “No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.” Thus they spoke before the king.
23 Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; and the other says, ‘No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’”
24 And the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought before the king.
25 And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.”
26 Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.”
27 Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.”
28 And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.
In light of this second story, I think that David had his answer as to who was actually being truthful with him. Mephibosheth cared far more about his relationship with David than he did about the family’s land – and this is saying a great deal. Land was everything to a Jewish family. Discerning who you can trust is important. While it would be wonderful to always trust everyone around you that is probably unwise. David exercises godly wisdom as he regains his throne and doesn’t foolishly trust the words that come from every mouth. While we are to be gracious, loving, and kind to all, we do not have to be everyone’s patsy or fall for everything that comes along. This is not God’s will for us either. It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to pick our way through the words of others and recognize truth when we hear it. Our God will be there to help us know the difference if we but only ask Him.
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