To Encourage You

2 Samuel 17:23 “When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off home to his own city. He set his house in order and hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.”

Years ago I was visiting someone in the hospital who had nearly died in an automobile accident. While we talked I asked him if he had been ready to die, in that he had come so close to it. His answer was interesting as its entire focus was on the here and now. As I recall, he mentioned that he had a will in place and he had life insurance. He had nothing to say, however, about eternal things. Those thoughts apparently never entered his mind. It’s his answer that came to my mind this morning as I was contemplating the passage above from 2 Samuel 17. It’s from the account of Absalom’s attempt to usurp the throne from his father David. As events unfold, Ahithophel, a man who had been one of David’s chief counselors, turns against him to join David’s son. David, in turn, prayed that God would turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness (2 Samuel 15:31). The immediate answer to David’s prayer came by way of another counselor named Hushai. David asks Hushai to attempt to infiltrate Absalom’s inner circle and work to defeat Ahithophel’s counsel. And that’s exactly what he did. As Absalom plotted his conspiracy, he asked both Ahithophel and Hushai for their advice. Ahithophel gave his strategy for victory over David, and Hushai gave his. Absalom’s response was “’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, so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom (2 Samuel 17:14).” 

Ahithophel could see the writing on the wall. He perceived that as a result of Hushai’s counsel, Absalom and his men were headed for defeat. And because Ahithophel was now a traitor, he saw his only recourse was to take his own life, and so we have the words above. It tells us that before he committed suicide, “he set his house in order.” Maybe he gave instructions to his family and made provision for their care. Maybe he took care of his debts so that his family wouldn’t be saddled with them after he was gone. In any event, he took care of the things on earth that were important to him, but failed to make provision for his own soul. Like that man I visited in the hospital many years ago, his focus was on the here and now, although death and what was to come after death was so near. 

So what about us? What’s our focus in life? Obviously we need to care about the here and now. The Bible tells believers that “if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8).  It tells us that “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children” (Proverbs 13:22).  As to the affairs of this life, we are commanded that “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).  “Whatever” means whatever, whether we are working at a job, caring for our children, or helping a friend. The Scriptures are telling us that what we do in the here and now matters. In the words of the late theologian R.C. Sproul, the here and now matters greatly because “right now counts forever.” Our everyday life, the things we do right now, can be done for the glory of God – or not, and eternity will reveal the truth about them. We can be excellent in all that we do, but if all that energy, all that concern, all that we pour into the lives of those around us is done for a motive that is other than the love of God, it will all be worthless, nothing but chaff that the wind blows away in the end (Psalm 1:4).  

Ahithophel made a choice. It was to act in opposition to David, God’s anointed king. He cast his lot with the usurper, but all his counsel and all his efforts were for naught in the end. How much more tragic will be our lot if we fail to serve the King of kings in how we conduct the affairs of our life right now. May God help us to have our minds set on things above (Colossians 3:2), even as we live our life with our feet on the ground. Right now counts forever. So, may God help us to serve the King of kings right now.