2 Samuel 19

Hope for Tomorrow

 But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. Now therefore, why do you say nothing about bringing back the king?” ~ 2 Samuel 19:10

 Have you ever been so focused on what went wrong that you almost missed what God was doing next? Maybe you replayed a conversation in your mind seventeen times, wondering what you should have said differently. Or perhaps you’ve spent so much time thinking about yesterday that you didn’t notice God opening a door for tomorrow. Sometimes we can stare so long at the rearview mirror that we forget we’re still driving.

Today’s scripture reading is a chapter about coming back. David had experienced devastating loss, deep grief, betrayal, and conflict. Now his people were calling him back to Jerusalem and restoring him as king. But returning wasn’t as simple as walking through the city gates. There were relationships to repair, people to forgive, difficult conversations to have, and decisions to make. David’s story reminds us that when God gives us another opportunity, we need wisdom to know how to move forward.

Here are three truths about leaving yesterday in God’s hands, extending grace, and faithfully stepping into the next thing He has for us.

1. Don’t let yesterday keep you from stepping into tomorrow.

David had every reason to stay away. His own son had rebelled against him, his kingdom had been divided, and his heart was broken. Yet God was bringing him back.

There are seasons when you’ve been hurt so deeply that moving forward feels almost impossible. You may have experienced betrayal, disappointment, rejection, or a failure you’d rather forget. Sometimes we convince ourselves that staying guarded will keep us from ever being hurt again. But God doesn’t call us to live in yesterday. He gives us strength for today and hope for tomorrow.

Maybe you’ve been hesitant to try again because something didn’t work the first time. Maybe you stepped into ministry and were disappointed. Maybe a relationship ended painfully, and now you’re afraid to trust again. Maybe you made a mistake and you’ve allowed it to become part of your identity.

Your past can teach you, but it doesn’t have to define you. Ask God what your next faithful step looks like. It may be small. It may simply be saying yes to an opportunity you’ve been afraid to pursue or opening your heart to a new relationship. You don’t have to have the entire road mapped out. You just need to be willing to take the next step and ask Him for help to accomplish it.

2. Grace gives people room to come back.

One of the most beautiful moments in this chapter is David’s response toward people who had previously opposed him. Shimei had cursed David when he was fleeing Jerusalem, yet when David returned, Shimei came to meet him and asked for forgiveness.

David could have used his position to punish him. Instead, he chose mercy. That doesn’t mean David ignored what happened. It means he chose not to allow someone else’s worst moment to determine their entire future.

We need this kind of grace today. People make mistakes. They say things they shouldn’t say. They disappoint us. Sometimes they hurt us deeply. And yes, there are times when boundaries are necessary. Forgiveness doesn’t mean pretending something didn’t happen or putting yourself back into an unhealthy situation.

But forgiveness does mean refusing to let bitterness become the boss of your heart. Maybe someone has apologized to you, but you’re still holding their past over their head. Ask God to help you know what forgiveness looks like in that situation. Perhaps you need to release an offense, have an honest conversation, or simply stop rehearsing what happened every time their name comes up. Grace doesn’t erase wisdom. It allows wisdom and mercy to work together.

3. Don’t compare your assignment with someone else’s.

At the end of the chapter, David encounters Barzillai, an older man who had faithfully supported him during his difficult season. David wanted to bless him and bring him to Jerusalem, but Barzillai recognized that his season of life called for something different. He knew what he could and couldn’t do. That’s wisdom.

We live in a world where it’s so very easy to compare our lives with everyone else’s. Social media can make it seem like everyone is traveling, succeeding, building businesses, raising perfect families, and drinking coffee in beautifully decorated kitchens while we’re standing in the kitchen wondering why the dishwasher is making that noise again.

But God hasn’t called you to someone else’s assignment. Maybe someone else’s ministry looks bigger than yours. Maybe another person’s career seems to be moving faster. Maybe you’re watching someone receive the opportunity you’ve been praying about for years.

Don’t allow comparison to make you question God’s plan for your life. Ask Him, “What are You asking me to do in this season?” Then be faithful with that.

David’s return to Jerusalem wasn’t the end of his challenges, but it was a new beginning. God was restoring what had been broken and giving David another opportunity to lead. The same God who helped David navigate betrayal, grief, conflict, and uncertainty was still with him as he stepped into what came next. And don’t forget, He’s with you too.

Today I want to encourage you not to let what happened yesterday determine what you believe God can do today and tomorrow. You may have experienced things you never expected, relationships may have changed, plans may have fallen apart, and you may still carry some questions that don’t have answers. But God is not finished writing your story. Let Him heal what needs healing, forgive what needs releasing, and give you courage for the next step. You don’t have to rush into tomorrow, but you don’t have to be afraid of it either. When God says it’s time to move forward, trust Him enough to take the step. There is still purpose ahead of you, and the best part is that you don’t have to walk into it alone.

Today’s scripture reading: 2 Samuel 19

1 And Joab was told, “Behold, the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.” 

2 So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people. For the people heard it said that day, “The king is grieved for his son.” 

3 And the people stole back into the city that day, as people who are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle. 

4 But the king covered his face, and the king cried out with a loud voice, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”

5 Then Joab came into the house to the king, and said, “Today you have disgraced all your servants who today have saved your life, the lives of your sons and daughters, the lives of your wives and the lives of your concubines, 

6 in that you love your enemies and hate your friends. For you have declared today that you regard neither princes nor servants; for today I perceive that if Absalom had lived and all of us had died today, then it would have pleased you well. 

7 Now therefore, arise, go out and speak comfort to your servants. For I swear by the Lord, if you do not go out, not one will stay with you this night. And that will be worse for you than all the evil that has befallen you from your youth until now.” 

8 Then the king arose and sat in the gate. And they told all the people, saying, “There is the king, sitting in the gate.” So all the people came before the king.

For everyone of Israel had fled to his tent.

9 Now all the people were in a dispute throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “The king saved us from the hand of our enemies, he delivered us from the hand of the Philistines, and now he has fled from the land because of Absalom. 

10 But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. Now therefore, why do you say nothing about bringing back the king?”

11 So King David sent to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, ‘Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house, since the words of all Israel have come to the king, to his very house? 

12 You are my brethren, you are my bone and my flesh. Why then are you the last to bring back the king?’ 

13 And say to Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if you are not commander of the army before me continually in place of Joab.’” 

14 So he swayed the hearts of all the men of Judah, just as the heart of one man, so that they sent this word to the king: “Return, you and all your servants!”

15 Then the king returned and came to the Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to escort the king across the Jordan. 

16 And Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite, who was from Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David. 

17 There were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went over the Jordan before the king. 

18 Then a ferryboat went across to carry over the king’s household, and to do what he thought good.

Now Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king when he had crossed the Jordan. 

19 Then he said to the king, “Do not let my lord impute iniquity to me, or remember what wrong your servant did on the day that my lord the king left Jerusalem, that the king should take it to heart. 

20 For I, your servant, know that I have sinned. Therefore here I am, the first to come today of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.”

21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, “Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the Lord’s anointed?”

22 And David said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should be adversaries to me today? Shall any man be put to death today in Israel? For do I not know that today I am king over Israel?” 

23 Therefore the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king swore to him.

David and Mephibosheth Meet

24 Now Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king. And he had not cared for his feet, nor trimmed his mustache, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he returned in peace. 

25 So it was, when he had come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said to him, “Why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth?”

26 And he answered, “My lord, O king, my servant deceived me. For your servant said, ‘I will saddle a donkey for myself, that I may ride on it and go to the king,’ because your servant is lame. 

27 And he has slandered your servant to my lord the king, but my lord the king is like the angel of God. Therefore do what is good in your eyes. 

28 For all my father’s house were but dead men before my lord the king. Yet you set your servant among those who eat at your own table. Therefore what right have I still to cry out anymore to the king?”

29 So the king said to him, “Why do you speak anymore of your matters? I have said, ‘You and Ziba divide the land.’ ”

30 Then Mephibosheth said to the king, “Rather, let him take it all, inasmuch as my lord the king has come back in peace to his own house.”

31 And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim and went across the Jordan with the king, to escort him across the Jordan. 

32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, eighty years old. And he had provided the king with supplies while he stayed at Mahanaim, for he was a very rich man. 

33 And the king said to Barzillai, “Come across with me, and I will provide for you while you are with me in Jerusalem.”

34 But Barzillai said to the king, “How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? 

35 I am today eighty years old. Can I discern between the good and bad? Can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Can I hear any longer the voice of singing men and singing women? Why then should your servant be a further burden to my lord the king? 

36 Your servant will go a little way across the Jordan with the king. And why should the king repay me with such a reward? 

37 Please let your servant turn back again, that I may die in my own city, near the grave of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham; let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what seems good to you.”

38 And the king answered, “Chimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him what seems good to you. Now whatever you request of me, I will do for you.” 

39 Then all the people went over the Jordan. And when the king had crossed over, the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his own place.

40 Now the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him. And all the people of Judah escorted the king, and also half the people of Israel. 

41 Just then all the men of Israel came to the king, and said to the king, “Why have our brethren, the men of Judah, stolen you away and brought the king, his household, and all David’s men with him across the Jordan?”

42 So all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because the king is a close relative of ours. Why then are you angry over this matter? Have we ever eaten at the king’s expense? Or has he given us any gift?”

43 And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, “We have ten shares in the king; therefore we also have more right to David than you. Why then do you despise us—were we not the first to advise bringing back our king?” Yet the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.

Journal:

• Is there something from my past that I’ve allowed to keep me from moving forward?
• Is there someone I need to forgive or extend grace toward? What would that look like in a healthy and wise way?
• Where have I been comparing my life, calling, or progress with someone else’s?
• What do I believe God may be asking me to do in this season?
• What is one small step I can take this week toward the next thing God has for me?