November 3, 2019: Day 50 – II Samuel 19

Now that David has won his victory you see all of the nations who had turned their backs on him, even the one who had cursed him and his troops out as they passed him by, all come and ask for forgiveness  and promise their allegiance to him.  What would you do?  If your family, your friends, your neighbors, those in your church, at your work, all turned their backs on you and basically said that you deserve whatever you get and we aren’t going to help you.  Somehow you crawl out of your hole and now you find yourself on top and each of those people come back to you and want to be on your good side again.  What would you do?

I’ll tell you what David did.  He said, come on back, absolutely no hard feelings.  We were all in a sensitive place and we never could know what would happen.  Now Joab scolded David because he was weeping over Absalom to the point where they were feeling that if Absalom had survived but all of his troops had perished then David may have been happier.  That isn’t great for morale.  So David goes out and publicly thanks the troops and gives them encouragement that he is not only on their side but also their leader.  

At that point all of those who turned their back on David come and greet him.  Now all those who had been with him all along ask him if it is right that the people who turned their backs on him should claim him since they were the ones who were by his side all along.  Jealousy goes a long way for those who were alongside the king for all this time.  What a great lesson in not being upset when other people get things that you don’t feel like they deserve.  Just be grateful for the blessings that come your way, and celebrate the blessings that other people receive.