Humble and Gentle

 DEVOTION

2^ND SAMUEL

HUMBLE AND GENTLE

2 Sam 19:31-39

31 Barzillai the Gileadite also came down from Rogelim to cross the Jordan with the king and to send him on his way from there. 32 Now Barzillai was a very old man, eighty years of age. He had provided for the king during his stay in Mahanaim, for he was a very wealthy man. 33 The king said to Barzillai, "Cross over with me and stay with me in Jerusalem, and I will provide for you." 34 But Barzillai answered the king, "How many more years will I live, that I should go up to Jerusalem with the king? 35 I am now eighty years old. Can I tell the difference between what is good and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats and drinks? Can I still hear the voices of men and women singers? Why should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king? 36 Your servant will cross over the Jordan with the king for a short distance, but why should the king reward me in this way? 37 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." 38 The king said, "Kimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him whatever pleases you. And anything you desire from me I will do for you." 39 So all the people crossed the Jordan, and then the king crossed over. The king kissed Barzillai and gave him his blessing, and Barzillai returned to his home.

NIV

We have another man, Barzillai, who is very old, as if eighty years of age is very old. But it seems that he thinks he is about to die and wants to live out the rest of his days near his father’s tomb so that people don’t have to carry him far after he dies. What a sad way to live. He had the opportunity to cross over with King David, remaining in his service for the rest of his days. Barzillai is just giving up, just waiting to die. David gave him his blessing, kissing him and letting him return to his home. Although David is a great warrior, he is also a gentle-hearted man, being understanding of the heart of Barzillai the Gileadite. Two lessons for us are here in this narrative. First, we see this sad expression on Barzillai, as he thinks eighty is so old that he just wants to go home and wait to die. Do we do that? Do we give up serving our Lord because we think we are too old and we should just sit down and wait to die? No, we do not! We still have breath in our lungs, and we can sit up and take nourishment. Of course, we have been seeing the number of years of people getting shorter and shorter throughout the history of mankind, from the time of creation, with Adam living hundreds of years, to Moses living one hundred and twenty years. Now we are told eighty is very old. How is that possible when many of us are past that eighty mark and still going strong in our service to our Lord? We will not be like Barzillai and just sit down to wait to die. The second lesson is in the heart of David. He is a good man who listens to the heart of his servants, his friends, and is concerned for them. Being the king, he could have ordered Barzillai to cross over with him and remain in his service, but he gave him a blessing instead and allowed him to return home. It is this open and gentle heart that David displays as a foreshadowing of the lesson Jesus told us about learning from him, for he is humble and gentle of heart. First, to be humble of heart would mean we do not force our own way, just as David did not force his way upon Barzillai. Sometimes, we want what we want just because we do not want a change in our surroundings. We get into that mode of thinking because it has been this way, the way we want it, and we want it to stay that way, our way. How has that been humble of heart, and listening to the heart of another person who has a need? This humble heart goes hand in glove with being gentle of heart. How we interact with others should always be with a gentle heart, speaking truth, but with a great deal of grace. If we truly love one another, then we would speak from both a humble and gentle heart, because we learned from Jesus. The problem is that it seems we have not learned, or what we learned we have either ignored or simply not applied to our hearts. Let us remember what we learned from David and Jesus, and live with a humble and gentle heart.