There are ways to get things done which are wise according to God’s ways, as pronounced in God’s Word, and there are ways to get things done which are wise according to the world’s ways. The two usually do not line up very well, thanks to sin. Sadly, worldly wisdom often rules the roost in our own lives, and in the way that the church operates in the world today.
There is nothing new about being swayed by worldly wisdom. Often it calls to us with its call on our feelings over the call of our conscience. David came into contact with worldly wisdom in 2 Samuel 14, over Joab’s desire to bring Absalom back into the fold. While David saw that it was Joab’s scheming, he let his feelings sway his conscience.
Amnon lay dead, and Absalom had wisely (in a pragmatic sense) made the right move in fleeing to another land. David’s heart seemed to be in some conflict. On the one hand, his heart went out to Absalom (13:39-14:1). On the other hand, David seemed reluctant to bring Absalom back, perhaps because he also did not exactly want to reconcile with him. The underlying Hebrew is vague here. Perhaps reflecting, in truth, a conflict in David’s heart.
Joab on the other hand seemed to want Absalom back in town (v.1). Joab sent for a “wise” woman in Tekoa to come and play a part in convincing David to bring Absalom back home (v.2). He told her how to dress, how to act, and what to say in a court hearing (vv.2-3).
Perhaps Joab had seen Nathan’s little story of previous chapters in action, and decided to recycle the plot.
In came the woman to see King David, and call upon his kingly wisdom and justice (v.4). She played her part well.
A widow, you see, reliant upon her “sons” for her prosperity (v.5). Except her two “sons” got into a fight in the field, and one slayed the other in a sudden rush of passion (v.6). Now her whole clan wanted to kill the other “son” in vengeance for her other son’s death (v.7). Except this is just a smokescreen, to “destroy the heir also” so that on her death they get to split her family’s inheritance up among themselves (v.7).
King David’s passion for justice stirred, and he promised to support the woman (vv.8-10). The woman asked David to go on oath to protect her remaining son, which David did (v.11).
Then the “oh by the way”. The woman casually points out that while the King is happy to intercede for her, his own inaction towards his son is hurting the nation (vv.12-13). We will all die, but God seems to find ways to bring back the banished (a living death) as with her own “son” (v.14). But these words are softened with flatteries about the king’s justice and angelic provision to try and make it seem like an aside to her own “plight” (vv.15-17).
The King could see what was going on, so he asked her if Joab was her puppet master (v.18). The woman then took a long-winded route to say “yes” (vv.19-20).
Despite this, David’s feelings overcame his conscience. He abandoned justice for murder (Absalom’s execution) for having him home again. But not too close. Joab was to bring Absalom back, but Absalom was still banished from David’s sight (vv.21-4).
Joab got his wish. David, at least in some respects, his own wish too. Bloodshed could take a back seat to family blood. Wisdom ruled the day, or did it?
There was plenty of wisdom on display in this chapter. Joan’s plotting to sway the King. The woman’s words to sway the king in favour of her “son” and, in reality, of Absalom. David’s wisdom in spotting the real story.
But not godly wisdom. For the two stories are not alike. Manslaughter and murder are different things. The Law certainly distinguished; there was mercy for manslaughter, but justice for murder.
Absalom was a cold-blooded murderer. Avoiding God’s justice for feelings is not mercy, but sentimentality. David was unwise, led by worldly wisdom. He did not act, he was led.
That is what worldly wisdom does. It leads us where our feelings want to go, not where God’s Word leads us. It leads us by the nose to foolishness, sin, and its consequences. Professing wisdom of a worldly sort, we become fools.
Schemes and plots are not wisdom. Sentimental acts, ungoverned by God’s Word, are not wisdom either. Worldly programmes and plans are not wisdom.
God’s wisdom might seem foolish to the world, but it is the way to life (1 Cor. 1:18). It is through God’s wisdom, not man’s wisdom, that God planned and accomplished our salvation. And God has shared that wisdom with us through his Word.
God’s Word, not the world, is full of nuggets of wisdom. In God’s Word, not worldly schemes and plans, we find the wise way to go.
