THEME: “TOUGH TIMES NEVER LAST, TOUGH PEOPLE DO”
READ 2 Samuel 15:13-37
ABSALOM’S TREASON WAS A CONSEQUENCE OF DAVID’S SIN
Key Verse: “So David went up by the Ascent of the Mount of Olives and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered and went barefoot. And all the people who were with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went up” (2 Samuel 15:30 NKJV).
True to God’s warning to David, when he committed sin with Bathsheba, he instigated treason in David’s household. God caused Absalom his son to lead a rebellion against him. David least expected that Absalom would lead a rebellion the way he did. Unknown to David, his son Absalom had nursed the ambition of being the King (2 Sam. 15:1-7).
For years, he subtly and systematically stole the hearts of the people away from his father, David. He presented himself to the people as an alternate leader who cared for them and would dispense justice if he were made the King. He ingeniously lured 200 men to join him in his plot. Not even Ahithophel was spared from his subtle scheme. He successfully lured Ahithophel to side with him in the rebellion. Gradually, the number of the people he amassed increased, “…for the people with Absalom continually increased in number” (2 Sam. 15:6,12,13).
When Absalom’s treason came to the open, David was forced to flee Jerusalem with his loyal aides. Two things seemed to have hurt David most, the humiliation of his son and the treachery of Ahithophel. The treachery of Ahithophel he easily dealt with in his prayer of vengeance, ‘Then someone told David, saying, ‘Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.’ And David said, ‘O LORD, I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!’ ” (2 Samuel 15:31 NKJV).
David overcame Absalom’s treason by resigning himself to God and waited for his vindication. When tough times come, the temptation is very strong to act on our instinct or wisdom, it is always best to wait on God for his leading and direction. “Then the king said to Zadok, “Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and show me both it and His dwelling place. But if He says thus: ‘I have no delight in you,’ here I am, let Him do to me as seems good to Him” (2 Samuel 15:25-26 NKJV).
PRAYER: Father, give me the grace to go through the present tough times I find myself in while waiting for your intervention
