This plan seemed good to Absalom and to all the elders of Israel. – 2 Samuel 17:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 24, 2013): 2 Samuel 17

In George R. R Martin’s epic saga of “A Song of Fire and Ice” – maybe more popularly known as “The Game of Thrones,” there are two groups of people that are without thought to be without honor. The first is the Kingslayer. One of the characters in the saga is stuck with the nickname “Kingslayer” because he was involved in the overthrow of one dynasty to raise up another. But he was more than just a Kingslayer, he was also the one who went against the commitments the he had made. He was a betrayer, because before he became the Kingslayer, he had been part of the King’s personal guard – he had been charged with the protection of the very king that he would end up killing. And because of that very fact, there are some in the saga that have a hard time trusting the Kingslayer.

But as bad as being a Kingslayer was, there was one category that was worse – and that was the Kinslayer – the one who was willing to kill his own relatives. There could be no one worse crime than being willing to kill a member of the family for profit.

David, actively resisted falling into either category. During the reign of Saul he had tried to honor the King in all circumstances – he saw him as the anointed one of God. No one would ever be able to walk up to him and call him a Kingslayer. But he also resisted the idea that he could be a Kinslayer. As Absalom takes up arms against him, part of the problem logistically is that David repeatedly refuses to be the one who would bring about the death of his own son. David had made the active decision to be neither the Kingslayer nor the Kinslayer.

Absalom, on the other hand, did not seem to mind becoming both. There might be a message about how far Israel had fallen away from God in this comment from 2 Samuel 17. Absalom and the elders of Israel found the plan “good” that plotted to kill both the anointed king of Israel and the man who was Absalom’s father. The Hebrew word that is used here is “yashar,” and the word carries a moral overtone. The elders of Israel had decided that becoming a Kingslayer and a Kinslayer was actually not just practical, but the righteous thing to do.

In this, it would seem that maybe Israel had confused what was pragmatic and what was morally right. It is a battle that we all face. And when it comes to a choice between the pragmatic and the righteous, we are to choose the righteous option. And this might have summed up the difference between David and Absalom – David was a man after God’s own heart because his desire was toward righteous action in his life, while Absalom was willing to do the pragmatic – and simply call it righteous.    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 18