It’s a Fake

2 Samuel 16:3-4

The king then asked, ‘Where is your master’s grandson?’ Ziba said to him, ‘He is staying in Jerusalem, because he thinks, ‘Today the house of Israel will give me back my grandfather’s kingdom.’ Then the king said to Ziba, ‘All that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.’

Now that my kids are fast growing up, the dynamics of parenting has leveled up too. My soon five year old boy can now understand expectations thus repetitive instructions are little by little withdrawn. My little girl can now carry out simple chores and so I let her help me keep the house in place. Attending to them separately is manageable. How they relate to each other is a challenge. Many times in a day, I’d hear cries and complaints, and I’d see pointing fingers and power struggles. There’s always a toy or a book or a clay or a cookie to fight over with. They even argue who should stay in my right or left during naptimes. Months before, it has always been the older one who gets the spank. Somehow I forgot how bad it felt to be unfairly treated. Somehow Kjaran got used to the routine and used it to her advantage. She may be first and loud-est to cry, but it doesn’t make her always the victim. You'll be amazed how she makes that fake cry. Now God is teaching us to take time to sit down with them and focus more on asking what really happened before passing the verdict. We have to be fair. We are their first model of God’s justice and grace.

Somehow, David forgot fairness in this chapter too. Physical exhaustion and emotional stress have blurred his judgment and that’s a no-no to any justice system. He should have at least delayed the verdict until both sides were heard. Here’s what happened: on his way to he-knows-not-where, David was greeted by Ziba, the steward of Mephibosheth’s estate. He had a string of donkeys for the king’s household, overflowing loaves of bread and fruits for his men, and wine for the exhausted. It was a good gift no wanderer could resist. When David inquired about Jonathan’s son, Ziba faked a story and said his master betrayed the king. This may have tingled David's ears considering he already have a list of backbiters on hand. Readily he issued all Mephibosheth’s property transferred to Ziba’s name. No inquiries, no court proceedings, no second thoughts. He fell into the cunning, opportunist’s trap. A decision David will regret later.

God’s justice calls us to make sound judgments based on facts not feelings. Bribery knows full well how kind words and generous gifts are difficult to ignore. Even my two year old girl sees that a warm embrace can soothe a fiery mom. How much more are the seasoned manipulators! Sadly, because of our bad experiences with deceit, our society’s inclination moved to the other extreme of trusting no one. How many times have we doubted those children begging for bread? Didn’t we always ignore and play deaf to special offers and solicitation letters? To us they are all under one big umbrella ruled by sin and syndicates.  But I wonder, how many of them were genuine and really needy? Like David whose situation limits him from further inquiry, we too don’t usually have the luxury to know people’s sincerity.  Praise God His wisdom and discernment are available for us. But like all disciplines, there are principles to learn and practice sessions are necessary. Isn’t that how they distinguish real money from the fake?