When David was told that Ahithophel had joined Absalom’s rebellion, he prayed, “Please, Lord, turn Ahithophel’s advice into nonsense!”
This had to have been the low point for David and he turned to you, Father – just like he did in 1 Samuel 30:6. May I forever do the same.
When David reached the top of the hill, where there was a place of worship, his trusted friend Hushai the Archite met him with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. David said to him, “You …can help me by returning to the city and telling Absalom that you will now serve him as faithfully as you served his father. And do all you can to oppose any advice that Ahithophel gives.”
An immediate answer to his cry for help? In any event, David’s desire and plan would be exactly what would transpire (2 Samuel 17:14). So was it an answer to prayer or was it already part of God’s plan anyway? Does it matter? I suppose it’s always better to raise our voice to the heavens.
When David had gone a little beyond the top of the hill, he was suddenly met by Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, who had with him a couple of donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred bunches of fresh fruit, and a leather bag full of wine.
All this isn’t prepared in a day!!! I am convinced that Absalom confided in Ziba believing he would logically join his conspiracy – ah, but SELF will always trump loyalty. Also, Scripture draws our attention to the timing of these events before, during and after David’s passage of the hill (which was a place of worship). I can’t help but think of the parallel with Abraham and his being greeted by the king of Salem and the king of Sodom (Genesis 14:17-18).
King David asked him, “What are you going to do with all that?”
Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for Your Majesty’s family to ride, the bread and the fruit are for the men to eat, and the wine is for them to drink when they get tired in the wilderness.”
“Where is Mephibosheth, the grandson of your master Saul?” the king asked him.
“He is staying in Jerusalem,” Ziba answered, “because he is convinced that the Israelites will now restore to him the kingdom of his grandfather Saul.”
The king said to Ziba, “Everything that belonged to Mephibosheth is yours.”
David was clearly suspicious of Ziba’s intentions (and rightly so), but he was still duped by his lies (2 Samuel 19:24). Abraham did better in refusing what the king of Sodom offered (Genesis 14:21-24). That said, Abraham was coming off a victory (Genesis 14:17) while David is clearly in distress here. Lord, please afford me clarify / discernment during these, life’s difficult moments!