QT 3/29/2023 2 Sam 15:19-22, We all need friends to refresh us

2 Samuel 15:19–22 (ESV) —

19 Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why do you also go with us? Go back and stay with the king, for you are a foreigner and also an exile from your home. 20 You came only yesterday, and shall I today make you wander about with us, since I go I know not where? Go back and take your brothers with you, and may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you.” 21 But Ittai answered the king, “As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, there also will your servant be.” 22 And David said to Ittai, “Go then, pass on.” So Ittai the Gittite passed on with all his men and all the little ones who were with him.

 

NOTE: David seems caught off guard by the series of events. While David was good at sensing things, he seems blind to his children's faults. Possibly, it is related to some of God's protection being withdrawn from David because of his sin. In the retreat, a Philistine officer travels with David. I like Bergen's commentary on this part:

 

David was certainly aware that foreign forces sometimes switched loyalties in the heat of battle (cf. 1 Sam 14:21); he himself had once been sent away from a military confrontation for fear that he would do the same (cf. 1 Sam 29:4–7). Knowing that such a change in loyalties would only compound his woes, David ordered Ittai and his forces to “go back and stay with King Absalom.” It seems strange that David would use the title “king” with reference to Absalom; perhaps, as Gordon suggests, it was a test. If Ittai obeyed the king’s command, he would go with the king’s blessing.

 

However, Ittai confounded David by rejecting the king’s command. Instead, he bound himself with a loyalty oath sworn on the lives of both Yahweh and David. In a commitment rivaling that of Ruth toward Naomi (cf. Ruth 1:16–17), Ittai indicated that “wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be” (v. 21). Taking the Philistine general at his word, David reversed his decision and ordered Ittai to “march on” (v. 22) with his own forces “and the families that were with him.”

 

The book of Ruth is a moving story of God's goodness and blessing in the midst of great pain. In this passage, God gives David one of those glimpses of heaven, one of those glimpses that he has not forgotten, one of those reminders that he still cares. Ittai swears an oath to God and David of his loyalty even to death. It is good during those times of great pain to know that people care, that God cares.

 

God created us for relationships and it is those relationships that take us to another level in our faith in God. We need true friends to refresh us and support us. God does things through friends.

 

PONDER:

1. Am I looking for those glimpses of God's love through others?
2. Is God calling me to be that representation of God's love to another?

 

PRAYER: Father, thank you for what you given to me and how I can give it to others to encourage them. It also blesses me when I know that my obedience (however poor) has somehow blessed another. Thank you!