I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Samuel 18-19.

    I think this passage really gives us some of the best insight into Joab’s character. It is in light of what Joab does here and then later at the end of David’s life that leads me to believe that Joab worked to maintain the stability of the Davidic dynasty. Joab was right to kill Absalom because as long as Absalom was alive he would represent a focal point for those seeking to overthrow David (and Absalom had just proven himself unable to rule effectively by failing to quickly pursue and kill David). Joab was also right in confronting David about mourning for Absalom while failing to acknowledge the victory his defenders had just won for him. In his mourning for Absalom, David was failing to live by the philosophy he expressed at the death of his first son by Bathsheba. Despite what Joab did for David here, and previously, David attempted to replace Joab as the commander of his army (this is the second time David offered Joab’s position to someone else).
    In his grief, David committed a sin which we all find too easy. He believed that his grief over the loss of his son gave him the freedom to ignore the feelings of others. He selfishly focused only on his own sense of loss and paid no attention to the relief felt by those who had risked their lives on his behalf. He went so far as to make them feel guilty for being happy that the war was over and they were victorious. Not on purpose, but that was the consequence of his actions. How often have you heard it said by or about someone that they had the right to be angry, rude, inconsiderate, or just plain miserable to others because they had just lost a loved one? There may be some truth to that, but I pray that I have someone like Joab to warn me from taking it too far if I am ever in that situation.

    When David returned to Jerusalem, Shimei hurried out to greet him and apologize for cursing him when he fled. Just as he had when they were fleeing Jerusalem, Abishai, Joab’s brother, wanted to kill Shimei. I had always thought that David’s reaction to Shimei and Abishai was similar to what Saul had done after his very first victory as king when his supporters wanted to kill those who had previously failed to support Saul. However, I noticed today that Shimei came to meet David with 1,000 men from the tribe of Benjamin. I suspect that this show of force had more to do with David extending mercy to Shimei than David’s merciful nature did. We will encounter Shimei once more when Solomon becomes king.

    Today I noticed another thing which my familiarity with this story led me to overlook. Ziba, the servant of Saul whom David had made steward for Saul’s grandson, Mephibosheth, was among the 1,000 men from Benjamin who traveled with Shimei to greet David. We are told that Mephibosheth also traveled to greet David as David returned to Jerusalem. David’s first question for Mephibosheth was why Mephibosheth had not left Jerusalem with him. Mephibosheth’s reply was that he had told Ziba to saddle a donkey for him but that Ziba had left without him. The fact that Mephibosheth had not groomed himself from the time that David left Jerusalem until his return supports Mephibosheth’s story here. What is interesting here is that David apparently believes Mephibosheth, but only returns half of the property he gave to Ziba when he believed that Mephibosheth had turned against him.