Thursday 14th November
Read 2 Samuel 15:16-18
“The king set out, with his entire household following him; but he left ten concubines to take care of the palace. 17 So the king set out, with all the people following him, and they halted at the edge of the city. 18 All his men marched past him, along with all the Kerethites and Pelethites; and all the six hundred Gittites who had accompanied him from Gath marched before the king.” (NIVUK)
The way the author has written it, with repeated use of the phrase ‘set out’ or ‘crossed over’, is meant to draw our attention to the significance of this departure. The word for ‘passed over/crossed over’ only has the same frequency in the Joshua narrative, when Israel was crossing the Jordan and entering the promised land. Not Israel’s king is again ‘passing over’, but he is leaving Jerusalem. Going in the wrong direction. What does this mean for God’s kingdom?
The note of hope is struck though with the emphasis on how loyal those of his household are. We will spend the rest of the week listening in on the conversations of those who remain loyal to David. Part of that loyalty is presented with the king pausing at the edge of the city and acknowledging all those willing to go into the wilderness with him. Even those from a foreign power, exposed to him when he was last in exile in Gath, followed him to Jerusalem and then east into the wilderness.
Where such self-sacrificial loyalty is inspired there is always hope. David is leading them into suffering and exile. Would we set out with him too?
“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” (1 Peter 4:12-13) (NIVUK)
