Context No. 3839 of 4322 · 2 Samuel

2 Samuel 17:6-13: in context

6When Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, “Ahithophel has spoken like this. Shall we do what he says? If not, speak up.” 7Hushai said to Absalom, “The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good.” 8Hushai said moreover, “You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are fierce in their minds, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Your father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people. 9Behold, he is now hidden in some pit, or in some other place. It will happen, when some of them have fallen at the first, that whoever hears it will say, ‘There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom!’ 10Even he who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men. 11But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together to you, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that you go to battle in your own person. 12So we will come on him in some place where he will be found, and we will light on him as the dew falls on the ground, then we will not leave so much as one of him and of all the men who are with him. 13Moreover, if he has gone into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there isn’t one small stone found there.”

Absalom, in rebellion against his father David, must choose between two pieces of advice. Ahithophel counsels a swift strike that would likely have destroyed David; but Hushai, secretly loyal to David, gives clever counter-advice that delays the attack and buys David time to escape. Absalom, and the crowd, are persuaded by Hushai.

The narrative had already told us the deeper reason: the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that he might bring disaster on Absalom. Behind the human debate of counselors, God was at work, steering events to protect the king he had chosen. What stands out is God's quiet sovereignty over even the counsels of clever men. Ahithophel's advice was shrewd and would have succeeded, humanly speaking, but God frustrated it. When God has purposed to protect or deliver, no strategy of the wise, however sound, can finally overturn his plan. We can take heart that the plans set against God's purposes, however clever, do not have the last word; God governs even the counsel that shapes great events.

Do I trust that God governs even the clever counsels and plans that shape events, so that no strategy set against his purposes, however shrewd, can finally overturn what he intends?

Sources

2 Samuel 17:14: "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel."
2 Samuel 17:7: "Hushai said to Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good."
Proverbs 21:30: "There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD."