The wise woman saved a town and gave King David’s leaders what they wanted. Sounds like a win-win, except for Sheba. Funny that I pictured her to be an old woman, hunched over with a shawl. Our reading doesn’t say anything about her age! Hmm. Curious.
I guess I usually equate wisdom with age. After all, I feel a lot smarter than I did when I was younger. Life lessons, plenty of mistakes and wrong directions, including smart course corrections. But then I also think that my granddaughter is “wise beyond her years!”
After all we know about Joab and how ruthless he can be when threatened. He certainly seems willing to give this woman some attention. Was she attractive or did Joab just like what she had to say?
Joab isn’t one to be squeamish about bloodshed—especially when it’s “for” the King. He wouldn’t necessarily be phased by having to attack a city to capture the “bad guy.” We can question some of Joab’s decisions along the way. Was he trying to do the “right” thing for the king or for Joab?
God put this woman in Joab’s path to speak truth. She asked him, “Why do you want to devour what belongs to the Lord?” That could have been like a slap in the face to Joab being he knows how devout David is. God also caused Joab to listen and spare the town.
Just like that, the people of the town had done away with Sheba, the man leadings the revolt against the king. If there was any question, Joab was now once again the commander of the Israelite army under King David. We don’t hear anymore about Amasa and what his fate had been. Joab owes quite a debt of gratitude to the wise woman of that town.
Do you have someone in your life that you look up to? When you’ve got a question about life or something that has happened to you, who is your go-to wise one? It’s good to have a network of people who fill that role.
You undoubtedly fill that position for someone else. We are all moving through this maze of life, going down paths that are sometimes dead ends. Do we stay there, hitting our heads against the dead end walls, or do we turn around and run to find a new way to our goal?
What is our goal or destination? Sometimes we get so lost in the maze we forget why we’re in the maze in the first place or what it is we’re looking for. We like when we are able to help people think through those hard questions and wrestle with who God created them to be.
We are all just “works in progress,” waiting for our perfect Savior to shine his truth into our lives. It is then that we can be truly wise. The wisdom we are given by the Holy Spirit is all that we need for now.
Let’s pray …
Lord, I thank you for the wisdom you give me each day. I seek you and your will for my life. Make clear the path that I should follow. Thank you for the brilliant people you have brought into my life to shine your light and truth into my own darkness. Use me to be that light for others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
