Gospel Reflections #1127: God has a way

2 Samuel 17:16 ‘Hurry and send a messenger to David, telling him: “Do not spend the night at the ford in the wilderness; you must cross over at once, lest the king and the soldiers who follow him be utterly destroyed.”’

This is a scene of urgent communication that proved decisive in saving the life of King David as he fled from his son’s rebellion.

This scene takes place immediately after David’s son Absalom had staged a rebellion and seized the capital, Jerusalem.

Within Absalom’s camp, two opposing proposals clashed over how to pursue David. 

 Ahithophel’s proposal—which was both highly astute and dangerous—was: ‘We should pursue him immediately tonight with 12,000 men and assassinate David whilst he is still exhausted.’

Then there was the proposal from the impostor Hushai, who deliberately sought to buy time: ‘David is a master of warfare, so we must not let our guard down. We should gather a large army from all Israel before striking him.’ 

Absalom fell into Hushai’s trap and adopted ‘Hushai’s strategy’, which would waste valuable time.

However, as it was unclear when Absalom might change his mind and revert to Ahithophel’s plan, Hushai—who was acting as David’s secret agent—used the priests’ sons as spies to send David a life-risking message: ‘Cross the Jordan River tonight and flee as quickly as possible.’ This is the scene described in verse 16.

Earlier, when David had heard that the strategist Ahithophel had turned against him, he had prayed to God, ‘Make Ahithophel’s counsel foolish’.

Thanks to the success of this urgent message in verse 16, David was able to cross the River Jordan throughout the night and escape to safety.

This was a direct answer from God to David’s prayer, demonstrating that God’s protection was at work behind the scenes of human scheming.

Although David trusted in God’s help, he did not simply wait idly.

He took the life-risking message from an ally like Hushai seriously and made an immediate decision to act, crossing the River Jordan swiftly through the night.

This teaches us that faith means relying on God whilst also acting swiftly and wisely within the circumstances we face.

As the words ‘so that he might not be utterly destroyed’ suggest, without that decision that night, David would not have survived.

This episode embodies the biblical promise that, no matter how besieged by enemies or how desperate the situation, God will always provide a way of escape.

Whilst it may appear that the situation was overcome through human ability and wisdom, we should always remember that behind our prayers there is always God at work.

AUTHOR'S BIO: This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San, who resides in Hiroshima, Japan. Masae is a dedicated student of the Bible with a deep passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on Gospel perspectives to reach out to others and spread the message of God's true love through a Christ-centered approach. We are sharing her insights here so that you, too, can experience the joy that comes from knowing and understanding the true Gospel and the love of God through Jesus Christ.