At the Gate

¹In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him. ²He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, “What town are you from?” He would answer,“Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.” ³Then Absalom would say to him,“Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative of the king to hear you.” ⁴And Absalom would add, “If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that they receive justice.” ⁵Also, whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him. ⁶Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the people of Israel.

- 2 Samuel 15:1-6

     Where was David during all of this? More importantly, where were those who were faithful to David? Absalom slowly won over enough people to lead a coup and it seems he had no opposition. Every day false prophets and the servants of the devil are waiting by the gate and calling out to the lost. They may try to incite bitterness against the Lord and His "apparent" lack of help, or they may truly be offering some helpful advice. The world is stealing the hearts of the people and Christians are nowhere to be found. How many days to I get up early and stand at the gate? What does that even mean for me? Well, make it what you want. To me, getting up early shows dedication and strong desire. Being the first one at the gate means me sharing the Gospel before someone else leads that soul in the wrong direction. All of this also convicts me to simply "be there." Where am I when someone is looking for advice? Where am I when someone needs help? Where am I when there is a need for justice? My place is at the gate. I must be there first and be there faithfully, so that no one has the opportunity to say, "there is no representative of the king to hear you."