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 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,

Maphethibishev 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.

Maph's servant Ziba brings David a bunch of food, wine, and donkeys as gifts, and then tells

David that Mapheth 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 Maphethibishath. 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 Shemiay 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.

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