2 Samuel 15:24-37 – Serving in Different Ways
We saw last week how Abiathar and Zadok come carrying the ark of the covenant. We looked at it from David’s perspective – how he refused to try and use God. He refused to try and use that sacred object as a lucky charm as others had before him. Let’s think about it briefly from Abiathar and Zadok’s perspective. They’re trying to help David, even if they’re not going about it the right way. They’ve risked a lot by leaving Jerusalem. But David tells them that they’ll actually be more useful to him in Jerusalem as informants. It’s the same with Hushai. When he comes to David, David says verse 33: ‘If you go on with me, you will be a burden to me’. But David has a better plan for him. Verse 34: Return to the city, let on that you’re going to be loyal to Absalom – and defeat the counsel of Ahithopel. The big question in the chapter is: Who’s going to be loyal to David? But we see here that people can be loyal to David in different ways. They all assume that being loyal to him will mean leaving Jerusalem. But for some of them David says: ‘No’, because they can be more useful where they are. So just because someone isn’t serving God in the same way as you, don’t assume they’re not serving God. And just because you’re not serving God in the same manner as someone else, don’t assume that their service is more important than yours!
Notice as well how often God’s people assume that they can be more useful to God by changing their circumstances. Whereas more often than not, God wants us to keep our circumstances the same, but get us to look at them with fresh eyes, and to realise the opportunities that we already have in front of us.
Question
- What does this teach us about serving God?
Prayer Points
- Pray that you would serve God well in whatever situation he puts you in.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.