As they say, good friends are like a tea bag; their real strength shows up when we’re in hot water.
If only we could edit our lives after the fact. This section (2 Sam 12:26-31) would have been ideal without the previous sad story. Oh, to draw a red line through the last phrase of this sentence: “David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite” (1 Ki 15:5). But there it is, and it continues to echo down the corridors of time, even finding a place in the first chapter of the New Testament. But in these verses, David isn’t caught with his armor off. Joab has captured the city’s water supply (2 Sam 12:27) and calls David to lead the people in defeating the Ammonites. It seems Joab has David’s good at heart, but don’t let appearances fool you. He crowns David with the king of Ammon’s crown, weighing “a talent of gold, with precious stones” (v 30). Then he put the surviving Ammonites to work, “with saws and iron picks and iron axes, and made them cross over to the brick works” (v 31). But Joab has a bargaining chip, knowing the secrets of the palace intrigue, and he will not be afraid to use it. Joab only does what’s right when it’s right for Joab, and you can’t trust a man like that. Although Joab seemed to be loyal to David on many occasions, his first loyalty was to Joab himself. How vital it is to expose this dangerous trait in our own hearts. Being obedient to Christ only when it suits us is not really obedience at all. “Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth and a foot out of joint” (Prov 25:19). An abscessed tooth or a sprained ankle are bad enough at any time, but in crisis they are dangerous liabilities. Instead, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” (Prov 17:17).