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check the facts

2 Samuel 16:1-4 (JDV)

2 Samuel 16:1 When David had gone a little beyond the summit, Ziba, Mephibosheth’s servant, was right there to meet him. He had a pair of saddled donkeys loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred clusters of raisins, one hundred bunches of summer fruit, and a clay jar of wine.
2 Samuel 16:2 The king said to Ziba, “Why do you have these?” Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride, the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat, and the wine is for those to drink who become exhausted in the wilderness.”
2 Samuel 16:3 “Where is your master’s grandson?” the king asked. “Why, he’s staying in Jerusalem,” Ziba replied to the king, “for he said, ‘Today, the house of Israel will restore my grandfather’s kingdom to me.'”
2 Samuel 16:4 The king said to Ziba, “All that belongs to Mephibosheth is now yours!” “I bow before you,” Ziba said. “May I find favor with you, my lord the king!”

check the facts

Ziba was lying. He is “an example of someone who wickedly uses a crisis for his own benefit.” (Guzik, Enduring Word Commentary).

His lies led David to disinherit Mephibosheth, something that he had vowed not to do. We should always be careful when acting on news of someone else’s treachery. We need to check the facts before we wind up becoming betrayers ourselves.