Betrayal of a friend

 2 Samuel 16:15-23

Betrayal of a friend, or one that you consider to be one of your closest friends, is not an easy thing to get over.  Ahithophel was that man to King David, and these are King David’s words about how it affected him found in Psalm 55:12-14.  “Now it is not an enemy who insults me—otherwise I could bear it; it is not a foe who rises up against me—otherwise I could hide from him.  But it is you, a man who is my peer, my companion, and good friend!  We used to have close fellowship; we walked with the crowd into the house of God.”  One cannot read that and not hurt for the one who has been betrayed by a dear friend.  Most of us never have many close friends at any time in life, so to have one that you love and trust his counsel turn on you, is hard.  And yet the King is dealing with a more significant hurt, in that his flesh and blood does want to remove him from the throne, but will not be happy until his dad is dead.

Absalom and his army were surprised to enter Jerusalem without a fight and to find that the King and his servants and mighty men had left the city.  It seems that both Hushai the Archite and Absalom entered the city about the same time and this was how Hushai greeted Absalom; “Long live the king! Long live the king!”  Absalom was wise and knew his dad and Hushai were best of friends and were surprised and suspicious, and he asked this question and gets this reply.  “Is this your loyalty to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend?” And Hushai said to Absalom, “No, for whom the Lord and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, his I will be, and with him, I will remain. And again, whom should I serve? Should it not be his son? As I have served your father, so I will serve you.” 

Absalom asked for the counsel of Ahithophel about what he should do next and was told to go to his father’s house and sleep with King David’s concubine, whom he had left to keep the house.  So they set up a tent on the roof so all of Jerusalem could see what was happening.  Ahithophel’s counsel was essential, and he knew this would convert many of the holdouts to their way.  In fact, verse 23 gives us a better understanding of Ahithophel’s counsel.  “Now in those days the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed, both by David and by Absalom.”

When men have that kind of power they must guard against becoming proud and arrogant, we will see that Ahithophel did not do so, and it cost him his life.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice