After Ahab’s death, Moab rebelled against Israel. – 2 Kings 1:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 2, 2013): 2 Kings 1

Maybe one of the saddest songs ever written was Simon and Garfunkel’s “I Am a Rock.” The song was written by Paul Simon very early in his career. In one year in the United Kingdom, the song was released three times. And, apparently Art Garfunkel called the song one of the most neurotic songs that Simon ever wrote. The lyric of the song describes the dangers of friendship and asserts that if you have never loved then you never would have cried. And it strikes a chord with the listener. Maybe one of our deepest needs is for a friend that will stand by us through all of the circumstances of life.

A number of years ago a friend told me a story of a night that he had spent in his youth. He thought that everything was going well in his life, until the one night when he found himself stranded with a car that would no longer run and the realization that at two in the morning he had no one to call. He knew he had a lot of friends, but no one that was close enough to him to be able to wake up and ask for them to come and help. He had no money or credit cards, and no real options. Two a.m. friends are rare – very rare.

During the reign of David, Israel’s king had subdued the nations of Edom and Moab. Both bordered on Israel and effectively became satellites of Israel. But being a satellite of Israel was very different from being friends with David’s nation. They found themselves in a position of friendship with Israel only because of Israel’s military power. When the nation of Israel was divided in two, Edom became attached to the Southern nation of Judah and Moab to the Northern kingdom of Israel.

But when Ahab died, Israel found themselves in a two a.m. phase of their history. It would be a time that they would need all of the friends that they could find. But Moab would not prove to be one of those friends. Instead, they took advantage of Israel’s pain in order to cut ties with Israel – and the decline of Israel’s power had begun.

In the Simon song, the singer sings that he touches no one and no one touches him. It is a sentiment that never really works. A truly successful person is never an island. Maybe our success can really be defined by the number of friends that will answer our calls – even at two in the morning when things are not doing very well.    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 2