Read 2 Sam. 15 through 19
When the king is firmly settled on the throne and no rebel rises up to dispute his right to fill it, it is easy enough to appear loyal and to cry with the multitude, "God save the king!" But where rebellion has made progress among the masses, and the popular idol is no longer the king, but some aspirant to regal power and honor, then the sovereign must discover who are his real friends, and learn to discriminate between the flattering courtier and the loyal subject. The day of the king's rejection is the day for the subject to declare himself. Thus it was with the aged Barzillai and those who were with him at Mahanaim.
The masses of any nation are indeed fickle. The idol of today may become the object of popular hatred tomorrow, and the benefactor of the people may find himself a wanderer in the very country over which he had reigned. Such was David's experience when Absalom's rebellion broke out. "Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands," had been the song of the women of Israel as they returned from the conflict with the Philistines. He had known what it was to be the man whom Israel delighted to honor. He had received the homage of the twelve tribes of Israel at Hebron when they went there to anoint him king over all Israel. Now, he was an outcast with a company who remained faithful, a fugitive from the face of his own son Absalom. The warrior and benefactor of his country, who had raised her to a pitch of glory, prosperity, and influence never before enjoyed was rejected for the king's son, who was remarkable for nothing but his personal appearance, unbridled will, and immense powers of dissimulation. Absalom had stolen the hearts of the men of Israel.
David had sinned grievously in the matter of Uriah's wife, and the cold-blooded murder of his faithful soldier. But of what could Absalom boast except the treacherous murder of his own brother Amnon? God was punishing David now for the sins by which he had given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. At the same time He was testing the loyalty and fidelity of all the children of Israel to His anointed. What was the result? The king had fled from Jerusalem; Shimei had manifested what he was as he cursed him; the people of Israel showed what they were as they clustered around Absalom, and David and his followers had at length crossed the Jordan, and so passed out of the true limits of the land of promise.
At this juncture, when the fortunes of David were at the lowest ebb, Shobi, Machir, and Barzillai declared themselves on his side as they met him and his company at Mahanaim, and brought with them what they felt must be needed. David had not summoned them to entertain him and no superior force compelled them to yield up to the king what they possessed. They brought of their own accord things suited to the occasion. David was at Mahanaim, while Machir belonged to Lo-debar and Barzillai was at Rogelim. The distance between these two places and the Levitical city, the scene of Jacob's meeting with the angels of God, has not been ascertained, but this at least is clear-these three men made advances to David, and Barzillai apparently surpassed them all as he "provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim." Their attitude at this time was most acceptable to David, and was certainly pleasing to the Spirit of God who has seen fit to record it so fully.
Shobi, Machir and Barzillai probably had once followed different paths, but they were now united in aiding David and his men. What made them unite in this way? David deserved his punishment-everyone had to admit that. Did they simply see David as the son of Jesse? or did they not rather see him as the Lord's anointed? As such, they combined to show kindness to him.
Obliged to put the Jordan between himself and Absalom, who was backed by the masses of Israel, David, in the midst of general defection, met with substantial tokens of loyalty from these three men. They saw in him the Lord's anointed; so for them the popular idol had no attraction. They did not concern themselves with what others might do. They did not calculate the chances of success, nor wait to learn which side appearances favored. If they had looked at the matter in this light, would they have befriended David? Would not the hosts which followed Absalom have determined their place in Israel? With them, however, the question was a most simple one: Should they side with the Lord's anointed or not? Such an alternative could have only one answer. Can it have any other answer today?
Worldly caution might have counseled them to delay before committing themselves so irrecoverably, but, if they had delayed, all opportunity of manifesting their loyalty and devotion would have slipped away. It was now or never with them. Reason might have suggested further consideration and a conference with the leaders of Absalom's party before they took this bold step and occupied so prominent a place. Should they not hear both sides before they took the part of the fugitive king? Had not Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counselor, actually espoused Absalom's cause? and did not all Israel acknowledge that his counsel was as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God? Would they pit their wisdom against his? Besides, had not David dishonored the throne and perverted the fountain of justice? That was true of the man David, but he was the Lord's anointed. So they ministered to his need, and thus openly sided with him before all. It was a noble act on their part. Also, it was a right act as it was in accordance with God's thoughts. The Spirit of God surely delighted in their faithfulness, for He has recounted the different items of refreshment furnished by them for the king and those with him in the wilderness.
They "brought beds, and basins, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentils, and parched pulse, and honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat: for they said, The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness." 2 Sam. 17:28, 29. Nothing that they brought, it would appear, has been overlooked in the account and nothing that the people could want seems to have been forgotten.
Absalom then crossed the Jordan with the hosts of Israel under his command and the result of the battle is well known. David was to be chastised, but not deposed. Once he had been chastised, Absalom's turn came. That in which he had especially prided himself became the means of his capture. Suspended by his hair between heaven and earth, the man who had killed his brother and would have killed his father, the king, met with the due reward of his deeds. The rebellion and David's temporary exile ended with Absalom's death.
Preparations were now made for his return. The tribes of Israel spoke of it; and the tribe of Judah, at first cold-hearted toward him, stirred up Zadok and Abiathar and sent word, "Return thou, and all thy servants." "And all the people of Judah conducted the king, and also half the people of Israel."
Owned once more by all as king in Israel, David acted as king to regulate the lives and possessions of his subjects. He spared the life of Shimei, who had cursed him; he restored in some degree to Mephibosheth the possessions of his father, hastily bestowed on Ziba in the day of his flight, and he offered to reward Barzillai and said: "Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem." Barzillai had served David when beyond Jordan; David would have Barzillai beside him permanently. "With me"- nothing less than this-was what he desired for Barzillai. Barzillai was to be with him in Jerusalem. This reward was most appropriate. When outside the land of Canaan, it was Barzillai's place and duty to own and serve the rejected king; in power again, and in the land, it was David's place to reward his faithful adherent.
David's request to Barzillai to "Come... with me" reminds us of similar language used by David's Son in addressing His Father in the presence of His disciples: "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am," etc. Little did Barzillai think of the honor in store for him as a reward for his service. He only heard of it after the time of such service was over and the day for rewarding those faithful to David had arrived. But we know, while the Lord Jesus Christ is absent from the earth and rejected by His people Israel, what will be the future place of privilege and blessing for all who side with Him during the time of His rejection by the world.
Barzillai objected to David's offer. He had not worked with any thought of reward, although he richly deserved it. He had thought of the king in his rejection, and had done what he could to succor him. He had come, too, to do honor to David as he returned to his capital, but to be at the court was unsuited to such a one, for his age forbade his enjoyment of the pleasure of the king's house. When David was in need in the wilderness, Barzillai's age did not hinder him from bringing help in person. When the king was to re-cross the Jordan, he did not allow the infirmities of age to be a reason for his absence. He would testify his delight at the king's return, as he had proved his devotion to him while he lay at Mahanaim; but to go to Jerusalem as a reward for his service was more than he felt able to do. Men generally act very differently, putting forth an excuse to avoid the service but grasping eagerly at the reward! Barzillai was not like this; he thought of the king, and acted at once. While he and all Israel had enjoyed much comfort under the king's reign, he did not stay at home counting up the blessings in which he shared. He knew nothing of self-ease when the Lord's anointed was driven out of his land and obliged to take refuge across the Jordan. As to the reward, Barzillai suggested that Chimham, his son, might accompany David while he desired to stay and die among his own kindred. Old age, with the prospect of death not far off, prevented the fulfillment of the king's wishes. "Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king: and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward? Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good unto thee."
Who could refuse such a touching request? The king answered, "Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee: and whatsoever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee." "Do to him what shall seem good unto thee," had been Barzillai's request. "I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee" was David's promise, reaching beyond the modest request of his servant. And more than this, he told him he had gained the king's ear. What a privilege this was! Honor, wealth, rank, are nothing compared with this. Thus they parted, but not before David had kissed him and blessed him on the Israel side of the Jordan. The king was sovereign in the land of Canaan when he kissed him and blessed him. All Israel could see whom the king delighted to honor that day. The multitude was right in escorting back king David, but Barzillai had done what others had not. These were around the monarch in the day of his return; Barzillai had been with him when they had cast him out. This was the difference between the multitude and this devoted servant of Rogelim.
In time Barzillai died, and perhaps this scene was soon forgotten by most in Israel. However, there was one, the king, who never forgot Barzillai's service, and his son, Solomon, was always to remember it. Occupied after his return with many important concerns, David, when he was dying, still spoke of this service at Mahanaim, and commended Barzillai's sons to Solomon's special care (1 Kings 2:7). Before David and Solomon, types of the Lord on His throne, the sons of Barzillai had a place, not of distance but of distinguished nearness, for they ate bread at the king's table and feasted in the king's presence. This service was never forgotten while David lived nor while Solomon reigned. David, as king, had portioned it out; Solomon, who ascended the throne without David's death intervening, was charged to continue it. Nothing was said to Rehoboam about it, for he was not, like Solomon, a type of the Lord on His throne. Faithfulness to the Lord's anointed in a time of general defection was never to be forgotten. Such devotion was always to be rewarded.
How long the remembrance of all this was to last is attested to by the reward bestowed on Barzillai's son, Chimham. As long as the kingdom lasted in Judah there was to be a witness of the king's approval of such conduct. For not only did David give Chimham a place before him, but he assigned him a portion in the city of the king's birth. In the city of his father's house Chimham owned a possession (Jer. 41:17). Barzillai was of the tribe of Gad; but Chimham was given a portion in Judah. Until the kingdom of, Judah was terminated by the Babylonish captivity, Chimham's portion by Bethlehem was an abiding witness of Barzillai's faithfulness, and of David's acknowledgment of it.
The application of all this history is plain, and we understand the reason that it has been preserved. The points of resemblance are evident as are the contrasts. David was hindered by Barzillai's age from acting as he would toward him, and his hasty action regarding Mephibosheth shows us that we have only a man like ourselves before us. But nothing can hinder the Lord Jesus from rewarding as He will all who have followed Him in His rejection, and none will suffer injustice in that day. He will confess them before
His Father and before His angels, and the company of heavenly saints who have served Him while absent shall be with Him on high, as those of earth shall be before Him when He reigns over the house of Jacob forever (Luke 12:8; Rev. 3:5; 7:15; 14:1). It will be found that He has been in their thoughts and they shall be before His face when He takes to Himself the power, and reigns.