Loyalty in the Wilderness (2 Samuel 16)
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Today’s reading is the whole of 2 Samuel 16
David then said to Abishai and all his officials, “My son, my own flesh and blood, is trying to kill me. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. It may be that the Lord will look upon my misery and restore to me his covenant blessing instead of his curse today.”
2 Samuel 16:11-12
Reflect ❤️
David has fled Jerusalem, as Absalom’s “conspiracy grows strong” (15:12). But all is not lost; he has had a few meetings on his journey, including with his friend Hushai the Archite, who seems to appear as an answer to David’s prayer. They have made a plan together, and now we will see: amongst so much disloyalty, will Hushai be loyal to David ... and will David be loyal to God?
The chapter begins with David coming across Ziba, Mephibosheth’s servant, who gives him generous gifts and reports that Mephibosheth has betrayed David. He appears to be showing loyalty to David, but the truthfulness of these claims comes into question later (19:24–30). But for now, to David it seems like another person who is close to him, and someone whom he has gone out of his way to show kindness, has betrayed him. In response, David makes a quick decision, perhaps in revenge, which he then later has to reassess.
How do we cope in these situations where we feel alone or betrayed? When we feel hurt, are we tempted to react like David does here: quickly and without proper assessment of our emotions or consideration of what God would have us do?
As David’s journey continues, he meets Shimei, another relative of Saul, highlighting that David is no longer running from Saul (like in 1 Samuel), but is now running away from his own son. Shimei is angry with David; he claims that David is being punished by God for stealing the kingdom from Saul and walks along following David and his servants (but keeping at a distance), shouting curses at them along the way. Shimei is claiming to know God’s mind, but his actions don’t match up to this claim. But Shimei isn’t actually completely wrong; he is right to link what’s happening to David’s behaviour, but he is blaming David for the wrong reasons—we should actually see the link to David and Bathsheba (as we’ll see more clearly later).
We can learn from David’s reaction here—David refuses to fight back and continues this weary journey. He responds with quiet control, humility, and openness toward God’s discipline. When we feel pushed in challenging circumstances, or questioned over our behavior—do we respond in humility toward God? Are we open to hearing from Him, even if what He is saying is not easy but he is disciplining us?
Our passage now takes us back to Jerusalem; Hushai starts to put their plan into action. But we should feel the tension: is Hushai going to be loyal to David? He leaves the reader nervous by avoiding naming the king that he is claiming allegiance to, but we can also see that this is him carefully avoiding conflict with Absalom while also avoiding betrayal of David. The plan initially appears to work, but then Ahithophel gives Absalom the most awful advice, and Absalom follows it. Absalom acts like other nations’ kings might do, breaking God’s explicit commands (Leviticus 18:7) and making a definitive statement of breaking his relationship with his father. This action is fulfilling Nathan’s words, where he explains that, as a result of David’s sin, God will “raise up evil against you out of your own house. And he will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun” (2 Samuel 12:11).
The chapter finishes with a chilling statement equating Ahithophel’s advice to God’s word (v. 23). And we should take from this a warning against inaccurately matching up human advice to God’s word—a similar problem to Shimei’s overconfidence that he knew God’s word.
At the end of this chapter, an impossible situation is set up. Is Absalom really going to listen to Hushai against Ahithophel? Hushai appeared as David’s answer to prayer; will David trust God to follow through? Will David remain loyal to God in this challenging situation, and will we in ours?
Pray 🙏
When in difficult situations, do we remain loyal to God, or do we react out of emotion, or what seems right to us? Are we open to God speaking to us, even when this is challenging?
Father God, thank you that you are a good Father who we can trust in difficult circumstances and even when you are correcting us. We’re sorry for when we don’t trust you and your ways. Please help us to quickly turn to you, trust you and follow you with every day of our lives. Amen