What a difference 50 years makes in one's life!
Jesus was the “meek” man. He humbled Himself before the Father to walk in His steps regarding His image and the foundation of the work to be set forever in His word.
In God's perspective, people who humble themselves, are
these people who are strong, while from a human perspective, it depends on whom
they want to impress. You can see that in the story of those who impressed
David’s son instead of staying alongside David as the King! ( of Ahithophel’s
advice to the King seen in 2 Samuel 16, 17, and what occurs in 18) Ahithophel
commits suicide out of bitterness in 2 Samuel 17:23.
At the point of Grace, we choose whom we will serve. We are told
over and over to forgive those who have done something against us. Yes, and
that can occur daily in this world we live in today!
But Humility is so important that God gave Paul some help to
make sure that he would stay humble: 2 Corinthians 12:6-10 NKJV 6 For though I
might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I
refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to or hears from
me. 7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the
revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to
buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded
with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me,
“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of
Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in
reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For
when I am weak, then I am strong.
Yet, this “thorn” in the flesh is a person. We know this because we see it in the Old Testament:
Ezekiel 28:22- 24 NKJV “Behold, I am against you, O Sidon; I will be glorified
in your midst; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I executed
judgments in her and am hallowed in her. For I will send pestilence upon her
and blood in her streets; the wounded shall be judge in her midst by the sword
against her on every side; then they shall know that I am the LORD. 24 “And
there shall not longer be a pricking brier or a “painful thorn for the house of
Israel from among all who around them, who despise them. Then they shall know
that I am the LORD GOD.”
From this verse 24, we see that insults of the nations are
compared to prickly briers and painful thorns. Numbers 33:55 ‘But if you do not
drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that
those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your
sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell. 56 Moreover it
shall be that I will do to you as I thought to do to them.’”
From the time of Jesus, His walk was about the persistent
heart giving the kingdom of God that had come: the Gospel! Jesus was effective
in that He laid down His life and could take it up again because He spoke it
into being. Paul saw the power of Jesus’ walk and proved to be an effective
servant of God.
So humility has a dominant thrust in it where appears a
willingness to submit to God, to what is His truth and remain in it to give to
others. These two willingly submit to giving their whole life into God’s glory.
So what would be the level of our humble hearts? Ephesians 4:3 …endeavoring to
keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Unity with each begins in the unity each of us has with God.
And it is within that unity with God you can keep unity with others.
So in returning to Ahithophel we find a most fascinating character. In 2 Samuel 15: 12 Ahithophel was a trusted counselor to King David. He was also a member of his cabinet. The King relied on Ahithophel’s advise as if he spoke from God himself seen 2 Samuel 16:23.
Ah yes, but things changed for the “bad”. It was David’s son
Absalom that led a rebellion against him. and in this rebellion Ahithophel
betrayed David by joining with rebellious Abasalom. AND we can know the king’s
heart on this matter when David recounts those painful laments of heart when a
trusted Ahithophel betrayed him in Psalm 41:8-9 and Psalm 55:12-15.
Psalm 55:12-16 NKJV For it is not an enemy who reproaches
me; then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself
against me; then I could hide from him. 13 but it was you, a man my equal, My
companion and my acquaintance. 14 We took sweet counsel together and walked to
the house of God in the throng. 15 Let death seize them; let them do down alive
into hell, for wickedness is in their dwellings and among them. 16 As for me, I
will call upon God, and the LORD shall save me.
AHITHOPHEL: whose name means “foolishness” certainly proved
to be the foolish man and it was indicated in his first meeting with Absalom in
2 Samuel 15:12. Yes the rebellion was on! And some parts of historical record
give a light on what occurred to make Ahithophel do what he did to the king! In
historic background, Ahithophel was the father Eliam found in 1 Chronicles 3:5.
And then the grandfather of Bathsheba, so this was a personal ordeal for the
man who knew the king and had worked side by side with him. Yes, David as the
king with loose morals at this time defiled another man’s wife. Instead of
being on the front lines in battle with his men, David stayed in the palace and
then had his eye on the lovely Bathsheba bathing. So in this corrupted action on David’s part,
Ahithophel’s sense of wrong crowded his thinking.
Yes, David was king but was to be the honorable and here he
slipped terribly in the acts of murder of Bathsheba's husband Uriah the
Hittite. What Ahithophel proposed in his pursuit of David is given in 2 Samuel
17:1…… Ahithophel gives Absalom advice: “Now let me choose twelve thousand men
and I will arise and pursue David tonight. 2 I will come upon him while he is
weary and weak and make him afraid. And all the people who are with him will
flee and I will strike the king.
It was a personal hostility that Ahithophel held for David.
1 Corinthians 1:20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the
disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world. 21 For
since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it
pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who
believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we
preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks
foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the
power of God and the wisdom of God.
Through the Gospel, revelation of truth is power. And in the
operation of God’s power through this gospel is victory over sin and death. But
to the Jews, this very message of Christ crucified signaled weakness and proved
Jesus the false Messiah. The Jews looked for signs instead of in Messiah’s
power ( Isaiah 35; 61) The Jews stumbled
in this truth. And of course to the Gentile mind-set, they held no messianic
expectations. No, they held only what a deity should be like, so the message of
Christ crucified was foolishness to them.
Yes, David did try to hide his corrupted acts. He treated this young woman terribly and her husband even worse. He wanted her to sleep with her own husband to hide his dilemma her creating a child within her womb. But the honorable Uriah would not do that while the men he fought with would not have the same thing available to them. David proceeds with another act of betrayal to place Uriah on the front line of the battle. Yes, death would occur to this young man.
Ahithophel most likely burned in his thinking that became a
hate with a force behind it! So Absalom set to take David’s throne, and he, Ahithophel,
must have thought some kind of good must have turned towards him in favor, but
David prayed in 2 Samuel 15:31 “O LORD I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophel
into foolishness!” Remember David had
already prayed in Psalm 55!
In Ahithophel’s counsel to Absalom to immediately attack
David before he can regroup, a change occurs in a dramatic way. A loyal friend to David, Hushai pretends to
have turned to Absalom’s side and urges him to delay an attack. It was God
causing Absalom to heed Husahi’s advice and Ahithophel realizes a fatal
mistake. In bitterness, he knows that God will not punish David now. No, because
David repented and prayed for God’s hand on the outcome of his own stupid
behavior.
In despair it was Ahithophel who would die: “He put his house in order and then hanged
himself (2 Sam 17:23). In prayer, David displayed anguish. He wrote of betrayal
in Psalm 55:13-14. A seemingly spiritual
companion betrayed David in verse 13: “ but it was you, a man my equal, my
companion and my acquaintance”.
2 Samuel 15:31 Then someone told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, “O LORD I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
Humility goes hand in hand with meekness. Jesus the meek had a restraint
being held in the “kind, the gentle, and the sensitive to others’ needs. This is done in truth, with no lying and stealing. They are those who will agree with that which
is God’s word. They will not argue God’s word, neither will they insist on
their own way in it. People could approach Jesus! They could speak with Him and
He would return that which was life to them. He was and is the meek but He is
not the “weak”! Like Jesus we are to be the firm and the uncompromising
regarding following truth. And what is revealed to us is that Jesus did not overwhelm
others who were aligned against Him.
God’s grace has been poured out to us! People who know their Lord
and God are the blessed and it shows! We too can enjoy this abundance of grace.
We should let people go and give them over to God.
Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your
heavenly Father will also forgive you.” 15 “But if you do not forgive me their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Jesus hung on a Cross at Calvary and forgave the one who hung there with Him. Jesus told the man that he would be with Him in Paradise. The other went his way into hell. It was one who held onto Jesus the Son of God, the Savior of the world. Painful thorns indeed appear in our walk. But we keep our eyes on Jesus! You can see insanity in the world, but peace is found in the Lord alone!
Teaching at: Voice of Prayer
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