Scripture Daily

Context No. 1736 of 4322 · 2 Samuel

Context · Reflection

2 Samuel 16:1-8: in context

1When David was a little past the top, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him with a couple of donkeys saddled, and on them two hundred loaves of bread, and one hundred clusters of raisins, and one hundred summer fruits, and a container of wine. 2The king said to Ziba, “What do you mean by these?” Ziba said, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that those who are faint in the wilderness may drink.” 3The king said, “Where is your master’s son?” Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is staying in Jerusalem; for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will restore me the kingdom of my father.’” 4Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours.” Ziba said, “I bow down. Let me find favor in your sight, my lord, O king.” 5When King David came to Bahurim, behold, a man of the family of Saul’s house came out, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera. He came out and cursed as he came. 6He cast stones at David and at all the servants of King David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. 7Shimei said when he cursed, “Be gone, be gone, you man of blood, and wicked fellow! 8The LORD has returned on you all the blood of Saul’s house, in whose place you have reigned! The LORD has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son! Behold, you are caught by your own mischief, because you are a man of blood!”

As David flees Jerusalem during Absalom's revolt, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, meets him with donkeys and provisions. When David asks where Mephibosheth is, Ziba says his master has stayed behind, hoping to reclaim Saul's kingdom for himself. David, believing him, hands over all Mephibosheth's property to Ziba on the spot. Farther on, a man named Shimei comes out cursing David, throwing stones, calling him a man of blood and declaring that God is repaying him for the house of Saul.

There is a lesson in David's hasty response to Ziba. In the middle of crisis, fleeing for his life, David hears Ziba's account, that the absent Mephibosheth has betrayed him and is scheming for the throne, and on the strength of that one report he immediately hands over all of Mephibosheth's property. He does not pause; he does not ask where the other side of the story might be; he simply believes the accuser and rules against the accused, who is not there to speak for himself. Later David would learn that Ziba had deceived him, slandering his master to gain his estate; the hasty judgment was wrong. There is a warning here about how readily we believe one side of a story, especially against someone who is absent and cannot defend himself. Ziba came with a plausible tale and a self-serving motive, and David, distracted and under pressure, accepted it without question and judged accordingly. We are prone to the same: to hear an accusation, find it plausible, and believe it, condemning the accused in our minds before we have heard them, taking the one account before us as the whole truth. But the first to tell his story often seems right until the other comes and questions him, as the proverb says. Slander thrives on our willingness to believe the absent guilty. The wiser way is to withhold judgment until we have heard both sides, to be slow to condemn on a single report, especially when the one accused is not present and the one accusing has something to gain. David judged Mephibosheth on Ziba's word alone, and was deceived.

Am I quick to believe one side of a story, accepting an accusation against someone who is absent and cannot defend himself, judging them in my mind before I have heard them, or can I learn from David's hasty judgment of Mephibosheth to withhold my verdict until I have heard both sides?

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