2 Samuel 16:1-4 – Building Our Kingdom Rather Than God’s
Ziba is the servant of Mephibosheth, who is a son of David’s friend Jonathan, and a grandson of Saul. Jonathan was killed along with his father Saul at the end of 1st Samuel. But when David became king, rather than wipe out anyone associated with the previous king, he shows kindness to Mephibosheth. And here comes Mephibosheth’s servant Ziba to meet David, and Ziba has laid on a feast for him. Where’s Mephibosheth, David asks? At this Ziba pus on the saddest face he can muster, perhaps even a few tears. Alas, Mephibosheth has stayed in Jerusalem. He’s hoping – Ziba says – to get Saul’s kingdom back. And David believes him. He has to take a snap decision. Though perhaps significantly, he doesn’t send up a prayer to God first as he does up in verse 31.
But is Ziba’s story true? Well for a start, it doesn’t really add up. Why would Absalom be interested in restoring Saul’s kingdom? If David’s life was under threat from Absalom, why would Absalom spare Mephibosheth? We’ll get Mephibosheth’s side of the story in chapter 19, where he tells us that Ziba deceived him. I think we can take it that Mephibosheth is telling the truth there. Whereas Ziba here is lying. Ziba is a manipulator. He’s taking advantage of David’s trouble to advance his own cause. He knows that if he turns up without Mephibosheth, David will ask him where his master is. He knows that David won’t be able to check his story, and will need to make a snap decision. He takes advantage of someone’s trouble to promote his own cause.
I’m not suggesting any of us are a Ziba. But perhaps it does call us to search our hearts. Someone has suggested that a modern equivalent of this might be when we tell a troubled friend that we’re praying for them. Do we do that simply to encourage them – in which case, great! Or is part of it because we want them to think well of us? It could be easier than we might think to use someone else’s trouble for our own benefit. It’s really any way in which we might say we’re showing loyalty to the true king, but we’re actually using what looks like commitment to him to build our own kingdom and advance our own platform.
Question
- How does Ziba manipulate the situation?
Prayer Points
- Pray that we would put Christ and His people before ourselves.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.