2 Samuel 16:15-23: a reflection

15Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. 16When Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, had come to Absalom, Hushai said to Absalom, “Long live the king! Long live the king!” 17Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your kindness to your friend? Why didn’t you go with your friend?” 18Hushai said to Absalom, “No; but whomever the LORD and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, I will be his, and I will stay with him. 19Again, whom should I serve? Shouldn’t I serve in the presence of his son? As I have served in your father’s presence, so I will be in your presence.” 20Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your counsel what we shall do.” 21Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines that he has left to keep the house. Then all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong.” 22So they spread a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel. 23The counsel of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man inquired at the inner sanctuary of God. All the counsel of Ahithophel was like this both with David and with Absalom.

When Absalom rebels against his father David, he is aided by Ahithophel, a counselor so renowned for his wisdom that his advice was regarded, the passage says, as if one had inquired of the very word of God. His counsel was brilliant, shrewd, almost unerring. But in this scene, that brilliant counsel is bent to a wicked end, advising Absalom in a course of open evil against his father. The gift of counsel, so remarkable, was here put entirely to the service of rebellion and sin.

Notice the disconnect between Ahithophel's cleverness and his goodness. He was extraordinarily wise in the sense of shrewd, insightful, effective; his counsel was almost oracular. But that gift was not governed by righteousness; it served treachery and evil. Cleverness and goodness are not the same thing; a person can be brilliant, insightful, and effective, and use those gifts for destructive, sinful ends. Ahithophel's very brilliance made his counsel more dangerous, because it served evil so effectively.

That is a caution worth heeding, both about others and ourselves. We are prone to admire cleverness, intelligence, and effectiveness, as though these were the same as goodness. But gifts of mind, ungoverned by righteousness, can serve evil as readily as good, and the more brilliant they are, the more damage they can do. Do not mistake cleverness for wisdom, or brilliance for goodness. And in yourself, do not let your gifts, your intelligence, your persuasiveness, your competence, serve ends that are not good. True wisdom is not mere cleverness but cleverness governed by righteousness and the fear of God. Let your gifts serve what is good, not, like Ahithophel's, what is destructive.

Lord, Ahithophel's counsel was so brilliant it was regarded as your very word, yet he bent that gift to serve rebellion and evil; his cleverness was not governed by goodness. Guard me from mistaking cleverness for wisdom, or brilliance for goodness, whether in others or in myself. Keep me from admiring intelligence and effectiveness as though they were the same as righteousness. And keep my own gifts, my mind, my persuasiveness, my competence, from serving ends that are not good. Teach me that true wisdom is not mere cleverness but cleverness governed by righteousness and the fear of you. Let all my gifts serve what is good, and never, like Ahithophel's, what is destructive.