I USE ALL MY COURAGE
II Samuel 17:15-22
15 Then Hushai said to the priests Zadok and Abiathar, “Thus and so did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and so I have counseled. 16 Therefore send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not lodge tonight at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means cross over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up.’ ” 17 Jonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at En-rogel; a female slave used to go and tell them, and they would go and tell King David, for they could not risk being seen entering the city. 18 But a young man saw them and told Absalom, so both of them went away quickly and came to the house of a man at Bahurim who had a well in his courtyard, and they went down into it. 19 The man’s wife took a covering, stretched it over the well’s mouth, and spread out grain on it, and nothing was known of it. 20 When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman said to them, “They have crossed over the brook[c] of water.” And when they had searched and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.
21 After they had gone, the men came up out of the well and went and told King David. They said to David, “Go and cross the water quickly, for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you.” 22 So David and all the people who were with him set out and crossed the Jordan; by daybreak not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan
In the high drama recorded in the Hebrew History, we find the story of those who wanted to kill David and up-end God’s chosen king and Kingdom. The names of many characters are repeated, and then there are those courageous actors whose names go unmentioned.
“A female slave used to go and tell” Jonathan and Ahimaaz things that they would secretly report to King David.
And once they had been discovered and needed a place to hide, “the man’s wife in Bahurim cover the well in which they were hidden and sent those who pursued them off on a wild goose chase.
These un-named women preserved God’s will and changed the course of history with their courageous actions. It wasn’t about fame. It was about faith.
Prayer
Let me act today in response to my faithful convictions. Give me courage for the facing of this hour. Amen.