2 Samuel 15-19
When king David 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 giving some aspirant regal power and honor, then the sovereign king discovers who are his real friends and discriminates 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 warrior and benefactor of his country, who had raised Israel to a height of glory, prosperity and influence never before enjoyed, was rejected for the king’s son, remarkable for nothing but his personal appearance, unbridled will and immense powers of dissimulation. Absalom had stolen the fickle hearts of the men of Israel.
The Lord’s Anointed
The king fled from Jerusalem, 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; no superior force compelled them to yield up to the king what they possessed. They brought of their own accord such things as were suited for the occasion. Barzillai apparently surpassed them all as he “provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim.” Very marked then was their attitude at this time, most acceptable to David, and, we may surely add, pleasing to the Spirit of God, who has seen fit so fully to record it.
They did not calculate the chances of success, nor wait to learn which side appearances favored. Had they 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, surely, the question was a most simple one: Should they side with the Lord’s anointed or not? Such an alternative admitted of only one answer.
Now or Never
Worldly caution might have counseled delay before they committed themselves so irrecoverably as they did, but had they delayed, all opportunity of manifesting their loyalty and devotion would have passed away. It was with them now or never. 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” (2 Sam. 17:2829). Nothing that the people could want seems to have been forgotten; nothing that they brought, it would appear, has been overlooked in the account.
Events rolled on. Absalom crossed the Jordan with the hosts of Israel under his command. The issue of the battle is well-known. David was to be chastised, but not deposed. He had been chastised, and now Absalom’s turn came. That on which he had especially prided himself became the means of his capture. Suspended by his hair between heaven and earth, the murderer and rebel met with the due reward of his deeds. Thus ended the rebellion and David’s temporary exile.
Return With Me
Preparations were now made for his return. “All the people of Judah conducted the king, and also half the people of Israel.” Now again owned by all as king in Israel, David acted as such by disposing of the lives and possessions of his subjects. He offered to reward Barzillai. “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 ever after, beholding his royal estate, blessed with the favor of the Lord’s anointed. “With me” was what he desired for Barzillai. Most fitting was this reward.
Barzillai had not worked with any view of reward, richly though he 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 now returning to his capital, but to be at the court was unsuited to such a one, for his age forbade his enjoyment of the pleasures of the king’s house. As to the proffered reward, Chimham his son might accompany David; he desired to stay and die among his own kindred. “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.”
Do As It Seems 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 prayer. “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 place was this to occupy! Honor, wealth and rank are nothing compared with this. To be with the king was David’s wish for him; to have the king’s ear was that of which David now assured him. Thus they parted, but not before David had kissed him and blessed him, and that on the right side of Jordan.
The King Never Forgot
In time Barzillai died, and perhaps this scene and all connected with it was blotted out before long from the remembrance of many in Israel. There was, however, one heart from which the remembrance of Barzillai’s service was never effaced; the king never forgot it, and Solomon his son was ever to remember it. Occupied after his return, as David was, with many important concerns, he, with his latest breath, yet 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. Never while David lived was this service forgotten, nor while Solomon reigned was it to sink into oblivion. David as king had portioned it out; Solomon who ascended the throne without David’s death intervening, was charged to continue it. Faithfulness to the Lord’s anointed in a time of general defection was never to be forgotten; such devotion was never to be unrequited.
As Long As the Kingdom
For how long did the remembrance of all this last, attested by the reward bestowed on Chimham the son? As long as the kingdom lasted in Judah, so long was there 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. (See Jeremiah 41:1717And they departed, and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt, (Jeremiah 41:17).) Barzillai was of the tribe of Gad, but Chimham had henceforth a portion in Judah. And, till 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. Nothing can hinder the Lord Jesus’ 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. It will be found that He has been in their thoughts; they shall be before His face when He takes to Himself the power and reigns.
Adapted from The Bible Treasury,
Vol. 8, pp. 50-52