II Samuel 16:3 And the king said, And where is thy master’s son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem: for he said, Today shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.
Opportunist or Friend?
David had both the best of friends and the worst of enemies, and both were revealed to him by difficult times. There are so many people who jump on the bandwagon if it’s cool to be a friend. If it’s not, they quickly retreat. You know who your friends are when you have no friends. It is important that all of us are a friend to those who need one, and that we know exactly what it means to be a friend.
In II Samuel 15 we read about David’s friends. In the last verse it says, “Hushai David’s friend.” There is no doubt that Hushai was David’s friend because he was a friend when it wasn’t in his self-interest, but could only be for the benefit of David. That’s what a friend does.
In II Samuel 16 we read about a number of enemies. Shimei was a man who cast rocks and insults at David and his followers, and Ahithophel was a traitor, a different kind of enemy.
Perhaps the most interesting person of the chapter is a man who wasn’t an enemy at all. His name was Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son. He meets David with a lot of gifts, and when David asked him where Mephibosheth was, he essentially says, “Mephibosheth has taken advantage of your leaving Jerusalem, and he wants the kingdom back for himself.” Now later we hear Mephibosheth’s side of the story, and I’m inclined to believe Mephibosheth. It seems like Ziba was an opportunist. He wasn’t seeking David’s good, but his favor. There’s a big difference.
A friend acts in your interest, not his own. That’s why the men who were David’s friends at this time were truly friends; they had nothing to gain from it. Ziba did think he had something to gain.
Perhaps the best friend David had was Nathan, the prophet. After David had committed adultery with Bathsheba, Nathan confronted him with his sin. Nathan was just as much a friend to David as Hushai. Hushai put himself in jeopardy by being David’s friend when it wasn’t cool, and Nathan put himself in jeopardy by confronting David when that wasn’t safe. In both cases, they were working for David’s good and not for his favor.
When I’m working for someone’s favor, I am just an opportunist. I am just finding opportunity to better myself by being nice to that person. When I am a friend, I don’t wish to be merely “nice,” I wish to be a help. To be a friend means to do someone good, not necessarily to seek their favor. David had good friends. I hope you do, too. More importantly, I hope you are that good friend.