Faithfulness Story And Questions
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Everyone gets his or her turn to be the underdog. Have you ever been popular, then you do something stupid and no one wants to be your friend any more? Have you ever seen the class loser suddenly do something great and now everyone wants to be his or her friend? It happens. It even happened to King David. When it happens to you, you find out who your true friends are. David’s son, Absalom, was trying to take over the kingdom. He led a revolution that almost worked. To save his life King David fled from Jerusalem and hid in the jungles by the Jordan River. Two people met David as he retreated that day - two men with two very different attitudes. One was named Shimei. He had never much liked David, but was too much of a coward to say so. Now that David was out of power, Shimei came out into the street and threw rocks and handfuls of dirt at David. He ran beside the retreating forces of David cursing at David and calling him names. Some of David’s soldiers wanted to kill him, but David just ignored him. Another man who came to David that same day was Barzillai. Barzillai knew that David had fled without much preparation. Barzillai decided to feed David and all of his men for as long as they lived in the jungle. This could have made him very unpopular with the new king, Absalom, but Barzillai didn’t care. David was his friend and he would stand with him. Eventually, David won the war, Absalom died, and David could return to Jerusalem. Shimei, the coward, was the first to greet David. He wasn’t throwing rocks this time. He was groveling in the dust trying to make friends with David. David accepted his apology and let him live. David rewarded Barzillai by taking his son to Jerusalem to live in the royal palace for the rest of his life. These two men had two very different attitudes. |