Corona Devo 713
Do we know our real friends? Those that know the truth about us (the real story) and love us anyway? Those are true friends. (Are we those friends?)
Each season of life brings opportunity for us to be true friends and also for us to experience the loyalty of our true friends.
“Then we must flee at once, or it will be too late!” David urged his men. “Hurry! If we get out of the city before Absalom arrives, both we and the city of Jerusalem will be spared from disaster.”
(15) “We are with you,” his advisers replied. “Do what you think is best.” ~2 Samuel 15: 14-15
Right off the bat, his advisors (close friends) supported David.
But even some not-so-close friends chose to take a stand with David. He actually tried to talk Ittai out of following him, but a true friend is loyal. (Does someone need us to be loyal today, even though we have differences?)
(17) The king and all his people set out on foot... (19) Then the king turned and said to Ittai, a leader of the men from Gath, “Why are you coming with us? Go on back to King Absalom, for you are a guest in Israel, a foreigner in exile. (20) You arrived only recently, and should I force you today to wander with us? I don’t even know where we will go. Go on back and take your kinsmen with you, and may the Lord show you his unfailing love and faithfulness.”
(21) But Ittai said to the king, “I vow by the Lord and by your own life that I will go wherever my lord the king goes, no matter what happens—whether it means life or death.” ~2 Samuel 15:17, 19-21
Ittai was a good friend to David. It's good to have true friends. It's good to be a true friend too.
And the neat thing about friends is that when we are a good one to others it can come back to bless us. David had "adopted" Mephibosheth, the son of his deceased best friend Jonathan (Saul's son), and when David had gone a little beyond the summit of the Mount of Olives, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, was waiting there for him. He had two donkeys loaded with 200 loaves of bread, 100 clusters of raisins, 100 bunches of summer fruit, and a wineskin full of wine.
(2) “What are these for?” the king asked Ziba.
Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for the king’s people to ride on, and the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat. The wine is for those who become exhausted in the wilderness.” ~2 Samuel 16:1-2
We can probably think of true friends who have shown up right when we needed them: with provisions, empathy, or simply with a hug. Ziba (on behalf of Mephibosheth) did that for David. I hope that we can be such a friend to others when they are in need.
And I think that we can all attest that there will be portions of life's journey where everyone will not be a friend to us. There will be people who seem to go out of their way to give us a hard time. David had those people on his path too, but take note of David's humble heart and how he defers to God with the troublemakers in his life. We can too.
As King David came to Bahurim, a man came out of the village cursing them. It was Shimei... (6) He threw stones at the king and the king’s officers and all the mighty warriors who surrounded him. (7) “Get out of here, you murderer, you scoundrel!” he shouted at David. (8) “The Lord is paying you back for all the bloodshed in Saul’s clan. You stole his throne, and now the Lord has given it to your son Absalom. At last you will taste some of your own medicine, for you are a murderer!”...
(11) Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “My own son is trying to kill me. Doesn’t this relative of Saul have even more reason to do so? Leave him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to do it. (12) And perhaps the Lord will see that I am being wronged and will bless me because of these curses today.” (13) So David and his men continued down the road, and Shimei kept pace with them on a nearby hillside, cursing and throwing stones and dirt at David. ~2 Samuel 16:5-8, 11-13
The behavior of Shimei cracks me up, because we all have "Shimei"'s in our lives. They don't know us or our story, but that doesn't stop them from slinging stones, curses and dirt at us anyway. However, picturing Shimei keeping pace with them...cursing and throwing stones and dirt also reminds us of how silly and childish we come off when we are the ones whining-for-our-way or calling-others-out for things we don't fully understand.
Today, let's be a "Ziba" friend, waiting with provisions and support for a friend in need, rather than being a "Shimei" along someone's life path, hurling insults and dirt because they don't measure up to our version of the story.
Good friends are a treasure to have as we journey life's path. May we be one and be blessed to have some.
Blessings,
Sarah
https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com
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