2 Samuel 15:14-18: a reflection

14David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise! Let’s flee, or else none of us will escape from Absalom. Hurry to depart, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down evil on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” 15The king’s servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king chooses.” 16The king went out, and all his household after him. The king left ten women, who were concubines, to keep the house. 17The king went out, and all the people after him; and they stayed in Beth Merhak. 18All his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.

When Absalom's rebellion drives David from Jerusalem, the king must flee, leaving behind his throne, his city, his glory. And in that moment of reversal and humiliation, his servants show where their loyalty lies. Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king chooses, they say; and they go out with him, sharing his flight, his exile, his low estate. Six hundred men who had come to him from Gath passed on before the king. They did not abandon David in his fall; they went with him into exile, willing to share his suffering rather than stay behind in safety. Their loyalty was ready to share the king's exile.

Notice the loyalty that shared the king's exile. David was fleeing, humiliated, his kingdom seemingly lost; there was nothing to gain, and much to lose, by going with him. Yet his servants said, we are ready to do whatever you choose, and went out with him, sharing his flight into exile. They were willing to share the king's suffering and low estate, not only his glory; they cast their lot with him even as he fled. Their loyalty was not to a secure and glorious king, but to David himself, whom they would follow even into exile and hardship. They chose to share his suffering rather than remain behind in safety.

That is worth taking to heart, for we are called to a loyalty willing to share the sufferings of the one we follow, not only his glory. It is easy to follow where following is safe and glorious; it is another thing to share the exile, the suffering, the low estate of the one we follow, as David's servants shared his flight. And Christ, our King, was himself rejected and made to suffer; we are called to follow him even into a share of his sufferings, not only his glory. Do not follow Christ only where it is safe and glorious; be willing to share in his sufferings, as David's servants went with him into exile. Follow the King with a loyalty willing to share his sufferings and low estate, not only his glory, as David's servants went out with him into exile rather than staying behind in safety; for we are called to share in the sufferings of Christ our King, who was himself rejected, and true loyalty follows him even into hardship, not only where the way is glorious.

Lord, when Absalom's rebellion drives David from Jerusalem, the king must flee, leaving behind his throne, his city, his glory. And in that moment of reversal and humiliation, his servants show where their loyalty lies. Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king chooses, they say; and they go out with him, sharing his flight, his exile, his low estate. They did not abandon David in his fall; they went with him into exile, willing to share his suffering rather than stay behind in safety. Show me the loyalty that shared the king's exile. David was fleeing, humiliated, his kingdom seemingly lost; there was nothing to gain, and much to lose, by going with him. Yet his servants said, we are ready to do whatever you choose, and went out with him, sharing his flight into exile. They were willing to share the king's suffering and low estate, not only his glory; they cast their lot with him even as he fled. Their loyalty was not to a secure and glorious king, but to David himself, whom they would follow even into exile. Take that to my heart, for I am called to a loyalty willing to share the sufferings of the one I follow, not only his glory. It is easy to follow where following is safe and glorious; it is another thing to share the exile, the suffering, the low estate of the one I follow, as David's servants shared his flight. And Christ, my King, was himself rejected and made to suffer; I am called to follow him even into a share of his sufferings, not only his glory. Keep me from following Christ only where it is safe and glorious; help me be willing to share in his sufferings, Lord, as David's servants went with him into exile rather than staying behind in safety.