2 Samuel 15:13 A messenger soon arrived in Jerusalem to tell King David, “All Israel has joined Absalom in a conspiracy against you!”
14 “Then we must flee at once or it will be too late!” was David’s instant response to his men. “If we get out of the city before he arrives, both we and the city of Jerusalem will be saved.”
15 “We are with you,” his aides replied. “Do as you think best.”
16 So the king and his household set out at once. He left no one behind except ten of his young wives to keep the palace in order. 17-18 David paused at the edge of the city to let his troops move past him to lead the way—six hundred Gittites who had come with him from Gath, and the Cherethites and Pelethites.
19-20 But suddenly the king turned to Ittai, the captain of the six hundred Gittites, and said to him, “What are you doing here? Go on back with your men to Jerusalem, to your king, for you are a guest in Israel, a foreigner in exile. It seems but yesterday that you arrived, and now today should I force you to wander with us, who knows where? Go on back and take your troops with you, and may the Lord be merciful to you.”
21 But Ittai replied, “I vow by God and by your own life that wherever you go, I will go, no matter what happens—whether it means life or death.”
22 So David replied, “All right, come with us.” Then Ittai and his six hundred men and their families went along.
23 There was deep sadness throughout the city as the king and his retinue passed by, crossed Kidron Brook, and went out into the country. 24 Abiathar and Zadok and the Levites took the Ark of the Covenant of God and set it down beside the road until everyone had passed. 25-26 Then, following David’s instructions, Zadok took the Ark back into the city. “If the Lord sees fit,” David said, “he will bring me back to see the Ark and the Tabernacle again. But if he is through with me, well, let him do what seems best to him.”
27 Then the king told Zadok, “Look, here is my plan. Return quietly to the city with your son Ahimaaz and Abiathar’s son Jonathan. 28 I will stop at the ford of the Jordan River and wait there for a message from you. Let me know what happens in Jerusalem before I disappear into the wilderness.”
29 So Zadok and Abiathar carried the Ark of God back into the city and stayed there.
30 David walked up the road that led to the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went. His head was covered and his feet were bare as a sign of mourning. And the people who were with him covered their heads and wept as they climbed the mountain. 31 When someone told David that Ahithophel, his advisor, was backing Absalom, David prayed, “O Lord, please make Ahithophel give Absalom foolish advice!” 32 As they reached the spot at the top of the Mount of Olives where people worshiped God, David found Hushai the Archite waiting for him with torn clothing and earth upon his head.
33-34 But David told him, “If you go with me, you will only be a burden; return to Jerusalem and tell Absalom, ‘I will counsel you as I did your father.’ Then you can frustrate and counter Ahithophel’s advice. 35-36 Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, are there. Tell them the plans that are being made to capture me, and they will send their sons Ahimaaz and Jonathan to find me and tell me what is going on.”
37 So David’s friend Hushai returned to the city, getting there just as Absalom arrived.
The whole mess began with one lousy decision, but eventually, it nearly cost David his kingship and his life. Rather than go to war, David was lazing around the palace in Jerusalem, where he saw Bathsheba, the wife of one of his mighty men, had sex with her, and then had her husband Uriah killed in battle. At that point, the prophet Nathan warned David that because David had brought violence to an innocent man’s family, now the sword would not depart from his house. And trouble was brewing, for David’s son Absalom would eventually try to take over the kingdom.
Had there been movies or videos in David’s day, David’s son Absalom would have been a huge star. Absalom was tall, handsome, and charismatic. Absalom waged a publicity campaign, subtly implying that David was old and incompetent and that he, Absalom, would make a far better king. The story is found in 2 Samuel 13-17 and is a complicated one. Absalom goes to Hebron to have himself crowned as king, and Ahithophel, David’s most trusted advisor, chooses to side with him, abandoning David.
2 Samuel 16:23 tells us that “Absalom did whatever Ahithophel told him to, just as David had; for every word Ahithophel spoke seemed as wise as though it had come directly from the mouth of God.” But Ahithophel’s first advice to Absalom is for Absalom to go to a rooftop and have sex with all of David’s concubines to prove that he is virile and that he is now king. Ahithophel has now made two mistakes: he has sided with Absalom and has given Absalom ungodly advice. This act of flagrant open sexual congress smacks of forbidden Canaanite fertility rite, for this is what a pagan king would do. Ahithophel has abandoned God, and now God is about to abandon Ahithophel.
There are innumerable lessons we might draw from these few chapters, but this morning we are concentrating on Ahithophel’s treachery, the way God frustrates it, and the way God comforts David. Until now, David has trusted Ahithophel completely as a friend and advisor; however, now David must pray against his former friend. 2 Samuel 15:31 says, “When someone told David that Ahithophel, his advisor, was backing Absalom, David prayed, “O Lord, please make Ahithophel give Absalom foolish advice!”
When Ahithophel advises Absalom to give him 12,000 troops so he can swiftly arrest David, Hushai the Archite makes a sage comment: “The advice that Ahithophel has given is not good at this time.” Although Ahithophel’s plan might have worked, Hushai convinces Absalom to gather a huge force to attack David; meanwhile, Hushai sends an urgent message to David to cross the Jordan immediately. Absalom takes Hushai’s advice, and Ahithophel goes home and commits suicide, realizing that he has lost his place as trusted advisor.
How must David feel when he learns Ahithophel is siding with Absalom? For years, David has followed Ahithophel’s advice and has counted Ahithophel as one of his closest friends and confidants. David has believed Ahithophel to be a godly man; yet look at the horrible advice he is now giving Absalom. Never in David’s wildest dreams has he imagined that Ahithophel would prove treacherous; yet, Ahithophel is advising Absalom and the elders to capture David, God’s anointed, and drag him back to Jerusalem. This betrayal hurts just as deeply as that of Absalom.
Wikipedia tells us that in Rabbinical literature, “The Talmud speaks of this counsellor of David as “a man, like Balaam, whose great wisdom was not received in humility as a gift from heaven, and so became a stumbling block to him.”[2] He was “one of those who, while casting longing eyes upon things not belonging to them, also lose the things they possess.”[3] Accordingly, Ahitophel was granted access by Almighty God into the Divine powers of God. And being thus familiar with Divine wisdom and knowledge as imparted through the Holy Spirit, he was consulted as an oracle like the Urim and Thummim.[4] “..and great as was his wisdom, it was equaled by his scholarship. Therefore, David did not hesitate to submit himself to his instruction, even though Ahitophel was a very young man at his death, not more than thirty-three years old. The one thing lacking in him was sincere piety, which proved his undoing in the end, for it induced him to participate in Absalom’s rebellion against David.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahitophel
Although Ahithophel is a wise man, he is not the only wise man in Israel, and now God provides Hushai, an elderly sage, to both comfort David and to confound Ahithophel and Absalom. Hushai proves more than equal to the task, for his cunning advice buys David time so David can escape the onslaught that Ahithophel wishes to unleash.
One of the biggest challenges in leadership is finding wise advisors who will give godly counsel. Until the Absalom incident, David has depended heavily on Ahithophel; however, he must seek guidance elsewhere. Notice that Hushai approaches David; David does not have to send for Hushai. God already knows Ahithophel will betray David and is providing a respected older man who can win the confidence of Absalom and the elders. In the midst of David’s anxieties, God is providing relief.
God does not play favorites, and He will do the same thing for you that He has done for David. For every Ahithophel, there will always be a Hushai if we search long enough. Sometimes we are so dazzled by someone’s appearance or their eloquence that we fail to realize that individual might simply be an accomplished liar. It is a highly human mistake to see what we want to see and to choose those parts of someone else’s behavior that will reinforce our preconceived notions about them. Shysters count on this phenomenon all the time.
Today, you might be reeling from the discovery that a trusted friend has abandoned you in hopes of financial gain or promotion. Do not worry or fear! God is still on the throne, and He can provide the guidance you need at the right time. Remember that no matter how much we might love people, God is the only One who will never change, God is the only true Source of wisdom, and God is the only One who loves us completely. Take comfort, for God sees, God hears, God knows, and God is our Helper.
Psalm 46 tells us, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 Though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.
6 The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, Who has made desolations in the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire.
10 Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, many of us are hurting from betrayals. Friends have proven false, and we are stumbling in the dark. Lord, we praise You, that You are the Source of light, and that Your light shines in the darkness and the darkness has NOT overcome it! Please send Your light into our minds and hearts that we may glorify You in our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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