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Aug 1, 2006

Envisioning a Hopeful Future with Confidence!!!


David now headed for the worship ground, meets his friend Hushai there. Hushai like any good friend, is devastated at David's fate and all the trouble that David is going through."32 When David arrived at the summit, where people used to worship God, Hushai the Arkite was there to meet him, his robe torn and dust on his head. "(2 Samuel 15:32) When Hushai wants to share in the grief, "David said to him, "If you go with me, you will be a burden to me. " and I went uh..what!!! how can someone who cares for you, who wants to cry with you, who wants to be with you in that terrible situation of yours be a burden!!! But thats what David says to Hushai!!!. Then David says "....return to the city and say to Absalom, 'I will be your servant, O king; I was your father's servant in the past, but now I will be your servant,' then you can help me by frustrating Ahithophel's advice. 35 Won't the priests Zadok and Abiathar be there with you? Tell them anything you hear in the king's palace. 36 Their two sons, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to me with anything you hear." (2 Samuel 15:34-36). I am amazed at this man David.
Just in the previous verse before he reaches the summit where people worship we see a heart broken downtrodden David, the Bible writes "30 But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot. All the people with him covered their heads too and were weeping as they went up.(2 Samuel 15:30), when David comes to know of what was happening behind him in his kingdom (2Samuel 15:31) David turned to God and then on we dont see a crying David, we see an active David, a David who now has a plan, who now knows what he wants, how things would turn out for him, because he has prayed to the one he knows as the ever present and only help in times of trouble, and I feel as I read, he has some kind of a surety with which he sends his friend Hushai to return to the city to frustrate Ahithopel's plan. Now I dont see any clear instructions that David gives Hushai for doing so, he just sends him back to the city and asks him to keep him informed through the sons of a priest back there.

Lessons I learnt
  1. Though distressed for a moment, David finds strength in prayer-David does not look doubtful for a moment about his prayer to God to thwart Ahithopel's counsel. He might not have had a clearly defined answer for his prayer, right now but he was confident God would surely do something for him. David says in one of his psalms " 14 But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. " (Psalms 10:14). Isn't it beautiful to know, that God considers our trouble and grief as the victim of that commits himself to you.
  2. Not looking to dwell in the sorrows of today but looking ahead to tomorrow-The above Psalm helps me see what David meant when he prayed, he meant to commit (surrender) himself to God, the only help he knew. He did not want a party of people who would continue crying for his situation but people who would act by faith. By faith that God would deliver David. He was looking ahead. He did not want to be stuck in thinking about his current situation and how sad and how devastating it was and he did not want to be reminded of it with tears of a well-meaning friend Hushai, hence he calls Hushai a burden if he stays with him. David was looking forward to his freedom, to his victory, to an answer of his prayers. There could be chance that Hushai would be killed, because he followed David and after all they were fleeing from Absalom and his conspirators in the first place. Why else would David have the courage to send back a good friend in the face of danger!!! Faith-thats what David found when he prayed.Looking at the day when God would deliver him.
  3. Confidence in God always pays-You know what David was right in being confident that God would surely answer his prayer. In 2 Samuel 17:14 we read "14 Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The advice of Hushai the Arkite is better than that of Ahithophel." For the LORD had determined to frustrate the good advice of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom. " Isn't that exactly what David had prayed!!! David did not shrink from what God had said would happen to him and heres what the Bible says " 35So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38But my righteous one[f] will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him."[g] 39But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved."(Hebrews 10:35-39). I dont know if David had confidence that his prayer is going to be answered, but he was certain that God would surely look at his situation and help him.

Conclusion: We cannot always explain all the situation we go through, surely for David this was a consequence as God had told him, but even then David knew, this was time to get more closer to God and not run away from Him. David showed confidence in God. Much of David's Psalms start off with a sad note, crying out to God, pleading for deliverance, struggling to stay right with God, but the most beautiful thing is the way he ends them, they all end with a hope of waiting on the Lord, waiting for His deliverance, waiting at God's feet even when situations don't look like they'll ever change. Thats how confident David is of His Saviour. How confident of my Lord, am I??

2 comments :

audrey` said...

Yeah!
Our Lord is very faithful all the time :)

Karuna said...

Amen Audrey. Thanks for being there