Fridays with David

2 Samuel 14:1-3

⁵ Then the king said to her, “What troubles you?”

And she answered, “Indeed I am a widow, my husband is dead. ⁶ Now your maidservant had two sons; and the two fought with each other in the field, and there was no one to part them, but the one struck the other and killed him. ⁷ And now the whole family has risen up against your maidservant, and they said, ‘Deliver him who struck his brother, that we may execute him for the life of his brother whom he killed; and we will destroy the heir also.’ So they would extinguish my ember that is left, and leave to my husband neither name nor remnant on the earth.”

⁸ Then the king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will give orders concerning you.”

⁹ And the woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord, O king, let the iniquity be on me and on my father’s house, and the king and his throne be guiltless.”

¹⁰ So the king said, “Whoever says anything to you, bring him to me, and he shall not touch you anymore.”

¹¹ Then she said, “Please let the king remember the Lord your God, and do not permit the avenger of blood to destroy anymore, lest they destroy my son.”

And he said, “As the Lord lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.”

Funny how different our circumstances sound when someone else is describing them. Just like the prophet Nathan in the Bathsheba story, the woman of Tekoa helps David see his actions by telling him a related, but different story.

Perspective is a funny thing. It doesn’t speak directly to the truth of a matter, but reveals how we see that circumstance instead. Once David is able to see his situation from another’s perspective, he will be better equipped to take the best action.

Sometimes we need someone else’s perspective to make the best decisions. Whom do you trust like that? What situations are you facing right now that could use some additional perspective? A good place to start is with something you’re trying to deal with, but it’s not getting better.

– Dr. Mike Clarensau serves as Senior Director of the Healthy Church Network of the Assemblies of God.