The chapter is a fascinating study in manipulating people, playing on their good intentions and their emotional soft-spots (we all have these by the way), to get what we think is best for ourselves or for others. In families, most of us know how to manipulate others to get our way. Sometimes this ability to manipulate is used to bring about what we believe is good for others in our family or for the whole family.
Children manipulate parents to buy or allow this or that. Parents/spouses/significant others manipulate. We use guilt, tender stories that play on the heart, or strong arming You know the games we play- you play.
The manipulation game is played in offices and clubs and …
Joab was a master at manipulating David to do what he, Joab, thought best. At the end of the story, Absalom manipulates Joab to come see him… and so the game is played.
Sadly, the entire story is devoid of God’s Word. No one stopped to check and see if the end result would glorify God, if what was being manipulated was in line with God’s teachings. And so the entire chapter is a sad commentary on what we do and how we get others to do what WE want (good intentions or not) with no check to see if it is what GOD wants. I have read the ensuing chapters many times. I know the heartache that will come because no one checked in with the Lord… because there was no place for the correction of God’s Word and Voice…
Lord God -Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit- it is so easy and so human to manipulate others to get my way or to get what I think is the best way. However, when I don’t check in with You, check my motivations, intentions and outcomes against Your Word in prayer, I am creating problems. I can’t be more honest with myself than that…
This is not an easy realization, Lord. In fact it is down right scary. When I let Your Word and Will slip from guiding me, I am in danger! O God…
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