The Danger of Despair

The Danger of Despair
Words of Faith 3-13-25
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2025
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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2 Samuel 17
[15] Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, "Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the elders of Israel to do such and such, but I have advised them to do so and so. [16] Now send a message immediately and tell David, 'Do not spend the night at the fords in the desert; cross over without fail, or the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up.'" [17] Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En Rogel. A servant girl was to go and inform them, and they were to 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 the two of them left quickly and went to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it. [19] His wife took a covering and spread it out over the opening of the well and scattered grain over it. No one knew anything about it. [20] When Absalom's men came to the woman at the house, they asked, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" The woman answered them, "They crossed over the brook." The men searched but found no one, so they returned to Jerusalem. [21] After the men had gone, the two climbed out of the well and went to inform King David. They said to him, "Set out and cross the river at once; Ahithophel has advised such and such against you." [22] So David and all the people with him set out and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, no one was left who had not crossed the Jordan. [23] When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his house in order and then hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father's tomb.

David had fled from Jerusalem just in time to escape Absalom's approach and his rebellious coup. But even though he was on the run, he was not without his own devices. Hushai, a respected strategist, had been sent back as a spy to create confusion in Absalom's court. His job was to countermand the advice of Ahithophel, David's former confidant who had betrayed the king and joined Absalom.
Through his network of spies, Hushai communicated the news of what had transpired, including Ahithophel's advice and his own counter to that advice. Zadok and Abiathar then sent their sons Jonathan and Ahimaaz to David with the message that he must hasten his flight. The young men were spotted, and their errand was reported to Absalom. Thanks to the bold kindness of a woman in the village, they escaped detection and made their way to David. Without delay, David and his followers crossed the Jordan, where they sought refuge.
Back at Jerusalem, Ahithophel was crushed because his counsel to Absalom had been spurned. He had betrayed David's trust to join the rebellion, yet now he was being set aside as chief advisor. In a surprising turn of events, he committed suicide in his hometown by hanging himself.
These were perilous times, but an act of suicide was exceedingly uncommon because it was contrary to the thinking of Jewish culture, which valued life so highly. We have already seen the apparent suicide of Saul, but this was in some sense understandable since he was about to die in battle and did not want the humiliation of torture by the Philistines. In this case, the reason is confusing other than that Ahithophel despaired over his life decisions.
There is a prominent suicide that appears in the Gospels, and that is of Judas Iscariot. After several bad decisions that led to betraying Jesus for the price of slave in silver coinage, Judas was so consumed by despair that he hanged himself. Certainly, there was great disappointment in the decisions he had made and the realization that he had been used by the religious leaders, but his choices were not all that different from those of Simon Peter. His motivations may have been more political than greedy, but the denial and betrayal were very similar.
So what was the difference between Simon Peter, who became the prominent leader of the Jerusalem church, and Judas, whose name is still scorned? The difference was simply the willingness not to give in to despair and instead choose to receive the grace of the Lord.
On the day of Jesus ' resurrection, Peter wandered the streets of Jerusalem. He even went back to the Sea of Galilee to return to his life of fishing… not very successfully. But when given the opportunity to be forgiven and reconciled, he ate breakfast with Jesus on the beach, faced his failures, and began anew.
There are times when this is exactly what we need to do. We need to get alone with the Lord, face our failures, receive His grace and begin anew. This is the choice to surrender to hope rather than despair.
Have you been going through a rough time? Bad decisions and bad results? Failures that cannot be set straight in your own power? Don't despair. Put your hope in the Lord, and He will renew your strength so that you will mount up with wings like eagles, run and not be weary… walk and not be faint. Choose life. Choose to be restored.

Father God, forgive me for my bad decisions. Cleanse me from my sins. Dine with me at the table of life. Heal my iniquities as I place my hope in You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2025
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2025 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.