Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

When we last saw David, he was fleeing Jerusalem because Absalom had staged a coup.

On his way out of town, David found out that his advisor, Ahithafel, was a traitor.

He also ran into his friend Hushai and asked him to keep him posted on everything that was

happening in Jerusalem after he left. Today, when we pick up on the story, David has just crossed

over the mountain on his way out of town when he runs into Ziba, one of the servants of Maphibibishev. As a reminder,

Maphethibishef is the son of Jonathan, who was David's best friend and who helped save David's

life when his father Saul tried to kill him. David had sworn an oath to Jonathan to take care of his

family, so when David found out that Mapheth was Jonathan's only surviving son, he took him into

his home and promised to

provide for him forever. But here things take an interesting turn. Maphisheth's servant Ziba

brings David a bunch of food, wine, and donkeys as gifts, and then tells David that Maphisheth is

going to try to assume the throne that David stole from his father Jonathan. You can imagine how hurt and angry

this makes David after all he's done for Maphethibisheth. Plus, God gave David the throne. He didn't

take it. So David hands all of Maphibishath's blessings over to Ziba, his servant, instead.

Put a pen in this story. We'll come back to it. As David and his crew continue on,

they encounter a man named Shemiai who is cursing him, calling him a murderer, which he is.

David's servant wants to kill him, but David's trust in the Lord allows him to incur insult without

fighting back. He's able to humbly receive whatever comes to him as though it were from God's hand.

He holds his anger and doesn't retaliate. I can't imagine the weight of emotional defeat

David must feel at this point. He's been betrayed by his son Absalom, his mentor Ahithafel,

his beneficiary, Maphethibishe, and now this randoz, Shemiye, is verbally attacking him in front of the few men who've stuck by him.

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