[One-Verse Meditation]

2 Samuel 17:5, ESV

“Then Absalom said, ‘Call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.’”

(Meditation)

Absalom tells Ahithophel, his counselor, to present a plan for striking his father David. Ahithophel first tells him to commit a deeply inhuman act of perversity. Following his counsel, Absalom openly displays before all the people his sleeping with his father’s concubines in a tent pitched on the roof. This scene, which appears to be the height of depravity, was largely driven by political calculation. In the history of royal usurpation in the ancient Near East, such an act was used to send the message that the throne had been seized and to strengthen political solidarity. Yet at the same time, Absalom’s act was also God’s judgment upon David’s sin (2 Sam. 12:11–12).

After forging the unity of Israel in this way, Ahithophel presents Absalom with a strategy to kill David and secure the throne. His counsel is so brilliant that Absalom and the elders of Israel all regard it as right. Now all that remains is to pursue David and his company according to the plan. Yet Absalom does not march out at once. Instead, he also summons Hushai, David’s friend who had falsely defected to him, and listens to his opinion as well.

Absalom appears almost kingly in that he gives careful attention to the opinions of his servants. Yet because of that very thing, he loses a golden opportunity. This is God’s intervention. The world lives as though it moves by its own thoughts and judgments. But God works through all of it to fulfill His promise. In other words, through all the great and small events that unfold on this earth, God is accomplishing His decree. Therefore, not a single fragment of our lives is wasted, but all of it is used within God’s goodness. Those who know this truth cannot help but become humble before God. And that humility, in the end, leads to worship offered to the Lord—worship offered with the whole of our lives.

(Prayer)

Lord, today again I kneel before the greatness of God. I am left without words before that greatness—that God died for so small a creature as I am. Lord, with those speechless lips, let me still sing to You. Help me to live trusting You, the One who is shaping every piece of my life for good. Amen.

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(Daily Meditation)

2 Samuel 16:18–17:10