There are
two great stories in this chapter – and a third one that I struggle continually
with. I’m not saying I disagree with the
chapter, but I am saying that it causes me consternation because the message it
gives is not black and white or cut and dry.
But we’ll save that one for last today.
Ziba’s Meeting with David
As we
begin this story we see David met by Ziba, Mephibosheth’s servant. Ziba comes bearing bunches of gifts for the
king and the king’s family. David
receives the gift and promotes Ziba to being master over Mephibosheth’s
material wealth. Of course, this
guarantee is only good once David gets back into power. For as long as Absalom is in power, David has
truly lost his ability to assert who is in control of the land.
There’s
only one problem with this – 2 Samuel 19:24-30 reveals to us here that Ziba is
outright lying. There is no truth in
these words. Mephibosheth is not in
favor of Absalom; Ziba just wants to earn the favor of the king.
There are
at least two lessons that we can learn here.
First, remember what I said a few days ago about being wary of those who
come bearing lavish gifts? This story
proves the point of this. People who
come bearing lavish gifts often have an agenda behind the gift. Take time to sniff them out, although we need
not deny legitimate gifts.
The second
lesson is that we shouldn’t fear making mistakes. David receives Ziba, but as we shall see in
the future chapters David deals with the liar once he discovers the truth. It is wrong to err, but it is more than
acceptable to go back and correct prior errors once the full truth has been
revealed. We cannot be expected to be
all-knowing mind readers. We will make
errors. When discovered, we need to
correct them.
Shimei’s Curse
The next
story that we hear about is regarding the Benjaminite, Shimei. I love this story because I need to hear it
so often. As a human being I tend to
reflect the humanity that I see in Abishai.
I know what is right, I know when I am walking in the Lord, and when
people persecute me accordingly I want justice now. I even wouldn’t mind being the vehicle of
that justice! But that is not the
spiritual high road. David has proven again
and again with Saul that in this type of circumstance he is incredibly
spiritually gifted. David looks to
Shimei and knows how to treat him. David
lets Shimei speak the slander trusting that God will be the judge between him
and Shimei. If Shimei is correct, then
at the very least David will not be guilty of being an obstacle in God’s
way. But if he is righteous, David will
let God judge his adversary rather than him.
I am
humbled by David here. It is so easy to
think “I am right; they are wrong.” But
it is better to think “Let me do what I think is faithful and let them do what
they think is faithful; and let God be the judge.” Having said that, though, I do think we
should also be advocates against known sins.
If it is a clear-cut incident where one person is right and the other is
clearly in sin, then we should be firm.
But in this instance David is unsure of what the will of the Lord
is. So it is best to let it play out.
I am
further humbled by the intention of the last sentence in that last
paragraph. David shows great spiritual
maturity here in that he acknowledges that he might be wrong about God’s
will. That’s a lesson I can really hear
today, too. It is easy for me to assume
I know God’s will. The truth is that I
am far less certain of God’s will than I’d like to think I am. I don’t know what God will have me do
tomorrow, much less a year from now! I
don’t know what God wants me to say to everyone in this world – sometimes I
struggle with how to say what is on my heart.
My spirituality is not crystal clear, and it is good for me to be
humbled today as I am reminded of this.
I don’t have all the answers, so it is best to let God be the judge.
Hushai’s Advice
Now let’s
get to the story that I struggle with.
Hushai is clearly lying to Absalom.
Hushai says to Absalom when confronted about being David’s ally, “whom
the Lord and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, his I will be,
and with him I will remain.” Now, we can
interpret this to say that Hushai is speaking about David when he says these
words. The problem with this is that if
this is so then the word “No” that begins his speech is a lie. When a human being uses the word “No” it
means “I am going to argue against what you just said.” Absalom just told Hushai that he is David’s
ally and Hushai says, “No.” That is a
lie as long as Hushai is speaking the rest of the sentence with David in mind.
Of course,
if Hushai is speaking that sentence with Absalom in mind, then the whole thing
is an outright blatant lie! Either way,
Hushai is lying deceptively to gain Absalom’s trust. And for the record, I don’t doubt Hushai’s
intentions. Hushai is loyal to David and
loyal to God. That is absolutely certain
in my mind.
But it
raises a question with which I struggle.
Lying is always wrong. Yet here
it would seem that Hushai is lying quite intentionally in an attempt to defeat
Absalom and accomplish God’s will.
Hushai intends to be loyal to David.
How are we to read this passage other than Hushai using deceptive means
to try and accomplish what He thinks is God’s will? Does this mean that it is okay to sin so long
as the ends justify the means? No, I
cannot go there.
There are
those who will argue that David establishing his spy network is a good thing –
and that might be. I don’t think God
ever says we can’t spy on those who would intend to harm us – think back to
God’s command to send the spies into Canaan when the Hebrew people left
Egypt! But for the spies to outright lie
in order to remain spies is wrong. It is
lying – and lying is lying.
There are
others who will argue that this is war, and the rules about life don’t apply to
enemies in times of war. I won’t go
there either. Jesus died for all, not
just His friends. Jesus says that we are
to love our enemies. Is lying to Absalom
going to demonstrate love to him and help bring him back to repentance for his
actions? No – should Absalom discover
the lie he will feel betrayed and be driven away from any truth that Hushai
might be able to bring to him. I think
how we treat our enemies – especially in times of war – is a great indicator of
our faith in God.
I know and
freely acknowledge that occasionally we have to choose between the lesser of
two evils. But even then what is
appropriate is to acknowledge that we are doing evil out of having no other
recourse. Evil is still evil – even if
it is the best of all the available options.
There is no right time to go against the ways of the Lord.
In the
end, I struggle with Hushai’s example here.
I don’t have a problem with him collecting information and trying to
subvert Absalom’s reign. But the ways of
the Lord are upright and righteous.
Lying does not fit in that category.
I serve a
Lord who was rejected by men. When men
came to show just how much they rejected Him, He went to the cross with them
and died for them – and me and you, too!
That is righteousness; that is the God that I serve. Jesus did not lie. Jesus subverted the culture, but He did not
employ unrighteous means in doing so.
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