Series: Youth for Jesus
Number: Vol. 8, No. 32
“Let your servant return, that I may die in my own town near the tomb of my father and mother. But here is your servant Kimham. Let him cross over with my lord the king. Do for him whatever pleases you.” (2Sam 19:37NIV)
Who said these words? Barzillai! And who was Barzillai? According to bible accounts, he was one of these few Israelite wealthy men that helped David with food and other things during the rebellion of Absalom. But he was not just a wealthy man at the time; he was also an old man, eighty years of age. (Cf. 2Sam 17: 27-29 &19:31-32)
Now because this man was crucial to David’s survival during Absalom’s rebellion, he wanted to bring him to live with him in Jerusalem after the rebellion had been crushed. And that, of course, was the highest honour the king may bestow on anyone. That means he would be getting the treatment of the king’s friend, eating and drinking regularly with him at his table, and perhaps also helping him with some state affairs.One, then, would think or expect Barzillai to jump at the offer, for it would give him access to greater influence and enjoyment in life.
Yet, as we see in our opening text, the man would not take the offer. Instead, he asked the king to let someone else, a gentleman that was most likely his son, take his place in accepting and enjoying the offer. Why?Well, as he himself pointed out, the reason was that he was too old and weak at the time to make the most of the offer. Yes, sometimes, we may come in contact with some eighty or more years old people that are still strong and agile and ready to take on anything life throws at them.
But in most cases, people of that age bracket are no longer willing to fight for positions, power, influence, wealth or enjoyment in life. They just want to make peace with their world or with their maker while they wait for their time to be done. Therefore, there are acts of kindness that will just be a waste them. And that was exactly what Barzillai thought of what David wanted to do for him. He saw it as an attempt to waste honour on him.
So, he pleaded with David to let someone else that still had the ability to make the most of that honour to take his place in receiving it. And as a wise and reasonable king, David listened to him and did as he had requested.Now what is the lesson for us in this? It is simply that it is not every act of kindness meant for us that we must personally accept and enjoy. There are acts of kindness meant for us that we may not readily have what it takes to enjoy.
If we, then, should insist on accepting and enjoying such acts of kindness by ourselves, we may end up wasting them. And that will be nothing but an expression of greed on our part. Wisdom, then, demands that we let others who can make the most of such acts of kindness take our place in such situations. That way, God and people will praise us for not allowing an act of goodness to be wasted on us.
Similarly, in doing good to others or in appreciating them, we must avoid wastefulness. Yes, someone may deserve our acts of kindness. But if such acts of kindness will only amount to a waste of kindness on the person, we should come up with some other acts of kindness that won’t be a waste on them. Or we can handle such acts of kindness in a way that those in their lives that have the ability to make the most of them can benefit from them. That will be our wisdom.Cheers!
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