And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over the Jordan with the king, to conduct him over the Jordan.
Absalom's rebellion has collapsed, and David is heading back to his throne across the Jordan. An eighty-year-old man comes down from Gilead to bring the king over the river.
Barzillai comes down from Rogelim to escort the king. One writer looks at what had already passed between these two men, and at what David now intends.
David acted far more like a king in the way he treated Barzillai. Barzillai's devotion moved him to show his thanks for David's return and to go with him over the Jordan (v.31). His wealth had let him supply David during his exile from Jerusalem. Now David wants to repay that kindness by providing for Barzillai at Jerusalem.
Barzillai had been a leading man in Gilead long before this. Yet the record says nothing of him until David is in trouble.
Barzillai was a great man, well known and wealthy in the land of Gilead, across the Jordan. But he never appears in the story until David is in distress. And he is willing to disappear as soon as that distress is over. He was the friend in need. Though no one knew him before, in secret his mind had been the mind of a man of God. Many have been like him in every day of Israel's history, and of the church's. He treats David's sorrow as a sacred thing, and does not add to the grief of the man whom God is wounding in holy, gracious discipline.
It costs nothing to cheer for a king everyone already supports. One writer sets that easy loyalty against the kind Barzillai showed.
When the king is settled on the throne, and no rebel stands up to dispute his right to it, it is easy enough to look loyal and to shout with the crowd, "God save the king!" But rebellion may spread through the people, so that the favourite is no longer the king but someone grabbing at royal power and honour. Then the king, welcomed everywhere only a short time ago, finds out who his real friends are. He learns to tell the flattering courtier from the loyal subject. The day of the king's rejection is the day for the subject to declare himself.
Barzillai was old, and his age never once kept him away. One writer lines up the two moments when it could have: the supplies in the wilderness, and the crossing of the river.
When David was in need in the wilderness, Barzillai's age was no hindrance to his bringing it in person. When the king was to recross the Jordan, he did not let the weaknesses of age become a reason for staying away. He would show his delight at the king's return, just as he had proved his devotion while the king stayed at Mahanaim.
Barzillai's name is missing from the account of the battle. One writer turns that absence into an encouragement:
We find no mention of the "man of eighty years," Barzillai the Gileadite, in the battle. Perhaps too old for active service, we might say; but not too old to welcome the king on his return.
David repaid several men that day. One writer weighs what each received, and Barzillai's reward is not like the others.
Life to Shimei, possessions in the land to Mephibosheth, but for Barzillai nearness to the king's person and a place eating with him — this is what David gave to each... Barzillai had served David while David was across the Jordan. Now David would have Barzillai beside him ever after, watching his royal state, blessed with the favour of the Lord's anointed. "With me" — nothing less than this — was what David wanted for him... And when the words "with me" fall on the ear, do they not recall the same language from David's Son, spoken in front of His disciples as He addressed His Father? "Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am."
Barzillai sends Chimham in his place. Long after, David's thoughts still return to what Barzillai did, and the reward reaches further than one man.
David's thoughts delight to linger, in contrast, on what Barzillai had done for him (2 Sam. 19:31-40). He rewards that devoted old man far beyond what he asked for, and he does it through his sons. At first only Chimham was involved. Now all the sons of Barzillai have a right at the king's table, because their father was faithful... Let us remember this in our own families. God repays the devotion of parents to Christ in their children.
- Hidden. A great man in Gilead. He appears only when David is in distress, and disappears once it is over.
- Declared. Crowds are easy to find when a king is secure; rebellion is what reveals who the real friends are.
- Unhindered. Eighty years did not stop him supplying the king in exile, nor stop him crossing the Jordan to welcome him back.
- Invited. David's reward is not land or rank but himself — "with me" — the same words David's Son later uses of His own people.
- Inherited. The reward he turned down for himself reached Chimham, then all his sons at the king's table. Devotion shown by parents is repaid in their children.
And Barzillai was very aged, eighty years old; and it was he that had maintained the king while he abode at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man.
Barzillai enters the story at its lowest point. David's own son has driven him out, and this old man from Gilead meets him across the Jordan, at Mahanaim, with food. The verse gives three plain facts about him: his age, his wealth, and what he did with both. Each one is why his name is still read.
Even his name said something about the man.
Barzillai was a very great man, a very noble character. His name itself meant "Iron of the Lord", to show he was "most firm and true". He was so very rich that, as we have seen, he could take care of the king out of his own private means during the time the king was rejected.
Barzillai was old, and he was rich. Neither fact kept him at home. He was one of three men who came to Mahanaim, and each brought what he had.
Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim joins them. He had the authority of age and the standing that great riches bring (2 Sam. 19:32). But age does not stop his service, and he uses all his riches to maintain the king and his people. The people draw the sympathy of these men most of all... They spare nothing for the companions of the fleeing king. They act in faith. Their own interest plays no part in their service.
Look for Barzillai earlier in the record and you will not find him. His timing is the point.
Barzillai was a great man, a man of note and substance in the land of Gilead, beyond the Jordan. But he never appears in the history until David is in distress, and he is willing to disappear as soon as that distress is over. He was the friend in need. He was unknown before, yet in secret his mind had been the mind of a man of God, like many others in every day of Israel's history or the church's. He treats David's sorrow as a sacred thing, and adds nothing to the grief of the man whom God is wounding in holy, gracious discipline.
Three men met David at Mahanaim with supplies. Why they came matters as much as what they brought.
David had not summoned them to entertain him. No greater force made them hand over to the king what they had. They brought, of their own accord, the things the moment called for... These three men took the first step toward David, and Barzillai seems to have gone beyond them all, for he "provided the king with food while he stayed at Mahanaim."
David wanted to repay him. What Barzillai did with that offer tells us the most about him.
He was very rich, but very different from the young man whom "Jesus loved." He had placed his fortune at the king's disposal during his stay at Mahanaim (v. 32). His great age had not stopped him from giving himself, body and goods, in service to David. David now offers him a reward to match his devotion: come over with him, and be provided for in Jerusalem. But Barzillai had not laboured for a reward. Judging himself unworthy of it, he refuses. Let his son Chimham enjoy the fruit of his labour instead; far from opposing this, Barzillai rejoices in it.
Barzillai refused payment. But the story of his kindness did not end with him.
In time Barzillai died. Before long this scene, and all that went with it, may have faded from the memory of many in Israel. But one heart never lost the memory of Barzillai's service. The king never forgot it, and his son Solomon was to remember it too. Busy as David was after his return, with his last breath he still spoke of this service at Mahanaim, and put Barzillai's sons into Solomon's special care (1 Kings 2:7). David and Solomon are pictures of the Lord on His throne. Before them the sons of Barzillai had a place — not a place at a distance, but one of marked nearness — for they ate bread at the king's table.
What he did for a rejected king has a longer reach.
Barzillai is a pattern of all who now in the day of His rejection own the righteous Jesus; to whom He says, "You are those who have stayed with me in my trials."
- Given, not taken. No one summoned Barzillai; he brought his supplies of his own accord, and out of his own private means.
- Given fully. Age and riches, the two usual excuses, became the two things he laid at the king's disposal.
- Given at the right moment. He appears only when David is in distress, and is willing to disappear once the distress is over.
- Given without a price tag. Offered a home with the king in Jerusalem, he refused; he had not laboured for a reward.
- Given back anyway. The king never forgot; Solomon was charged to remember, and Barzillai's sons ate at the king's table.
And the king said to Barzillai, Pass thou over with me, and I will maintain thee with me in Jerusalem.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And Barzillai said to the king, How many are the days of the years of my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?
Barzillai fed David and his men while the king was a fugitive beyond the Jordan. Now David is on his way back, and the king offers him a place at court in Jerusalem. His reply is a question about how many days he has left. He turns down the very reward he had earned. Why would a servant refuse honour from the king he loves?
David was not offering a pension. He was offering himself.
David measured out life to Shimei, and possessions in the land to Mephibosheth. For Barzillai it was nearness to the king's person, and eating with him. "Come over with me, and I will feed you with me at Jerusalem." Barzillai had served David when he was beyond the Jordan. Now David would have Barzillai beside him ever after, seeing his royal state, blessed with the favour of the Lord's anointed. "With me" — nothing less than this — was what he desired for Barzillai: with himself, and in Jerusalem. And as the words "with me" fall on the ear, do they not recall the language of David's Son, speaking to His Father in front of His disciples? "Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am."
Why refuse? One writer answers by contrasting Barzillai with most people.
He had not worked with any view of reward, richly though he deserved it. He had thought of the king in his rejection, and had done what he could to help him... but to go to Jerusalem as a reward for his service was more than he felt able to take on. Most men act the other way round. They make an excuse to avoid the service, but grab at the reward! Barzillai was not like this; he thought of the king and acted at once.
Another writer names what moved him to give, and hears in his question the words every believer will one day say.
Barzillai feels he is too old for this. He had not served his rejected Master for reward or thanks. It was love that gave so freely of his goods to the king in those darkest of days, and love does not give for reward. But he adds — as I suppose we all will add in that coming day — "Why should the king repay me with such a reward?" Then, though he would go home himself, he offers his son Chimham to go with the king: "do to him what seems good to you."
One writer notices where Barzillai's name is missing from this story — and where it is not.
We find no mention of the "man of eighty years," Barzillai the Gileadite, in the battle. Perhaps he was too old for active service, we might say; but not too old to welcome the king on his return. Surely not; we may grow too old to preach the gospel, but never too old to welcome the King.
This chapter tests more than one man.
In contrast to Mephibosheth, the offer of earthly blessings puts Barzillai to the test. He was very rich, but very different from the young man whom "Jesus loved." During David's stay at Mahanaim he had placed his fortune at the king's disposal. His great age had not hindered him from giving himself, body and goods, in service to David... But Barzillai had not laboured for a reward, and judging himself unworthy of it, he refuses.
Refusing the reward did not end the matter.
"Do to him what seems good to you" had been Barzillai's prayer. "I will do to him what seems good to you" was David's promise, reaching beyond what his servant had asked. And more than this, he told him he had gained the king's ear. What a place to occupy! Honour, wealth, rank are nothing compared with this.
One writer draws the contrast between David and the King this scene pictures.
Barzillai's age stopped David from doing all he wished for him, and his hasty action over Mephibosheth shows that we have only a man like ourselves here. But nothing can stop the Lord Jesus rewarding, as He will, all who have followed Him in His rejection, and no one will suffer injustice on that day... He will prove to have been in their thoughts, and they will be before His face when He takes the power to Himself and reigns.
- Rejection first. Barzillai supplied the king while the king was an outcast. Rejection is when loyalty shows, and that is the service the throne remembers.
- Love, not wages. He gave out of love, not for pay. So when the reward came, his answer was a question: "why should the king repay me with such a reward?"
- Age no excuse. Too old for the palace, but never too old to welcome the king home.
- Nearness is the reward. David offered not goods but "with me" in Jerusalem — the same words the Lord used when He asked that His people be with Him where He is.
- Never forgotten. Chimham received what Barzillai turned down. Nothing done for the rejected King goes unpaid when He reigns.
I am this day eighty years old can I discern between good and bad? can thy servant taste what I eat and what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? and why should thy servant be yet a burden to my lord the king?
Barzillai had fed David and his men while the king was on the run across the Jordan. Now David is back in power and offers him a home at court, and this verse is the old man's reply: at eighty, the pleasures of a palace would be wasted on him.
David gave something different to each man on the road home. To Barzillai he offered not land, but his own company.
To Shimei he measured out life. To Mephibosheth, possessions in the land. To Barzillai, nearness to the king himself and a place eating with him. "Come over with me, and I will provide for you with me in Jerusalem." Barzillai had served David while the king was beyond the Jordan. Now David wanted Barzillai beside him for good, seeing his royal state, blessed with the favour of the Lord's anointed. "With me" — nothing less than this — was what he desired for Barzillai: with himself, and that in Jerusalem.
His age had never stopped him from giving David everything he had. Yet he turns the reward down.
His great age had not stopped him from giving himself, body and goods, in service to David. David offers him a reward to match his devotion. But Barzillai had not worked for a reward, and since he judges himself unworthy of it, he refuses.
Commentators differ on the reason. One finds plain good sense in it:
At 80 years old he had no good reason to leave the home he knew and go after the pleasures of royal living. He would cross the Jordan to enjoy the king's company for that short time, but he wanted to go back to his own home.
He had never served with an eye on payment. And he turns the usual pattern upside down.
He had not worked with any thought of reward, though he richly deserved it… Court life did not suit a man like him, because his age kept him from enjoying the pleasures of the king's house. When David was in need in the wilderness, his age did not stop him from bringing help in person. When the king was to cross back over the Jordan, he did not let the weakness of age keep him away… Most men act the other way: they put forward an excuse to avoid the service, but grab eagerly at the reward! Barzillai was not like this; he thought of the king and acted at once.
Love, not calculation, had moved him in the dark days.
It was love that gave so freely of what he owned to the king in those darkest days, and love does not give for reward. But he adds, as I think we all will add in that coming day, "Why then should the king repay me with such a reward?"
Barzillai asked only that David treat Chimham as he saw fit. David's answer went far past that.
"Do for him whatever seems good to you" had been Barzillai's prayer. "I will do for him whatever seems good to you" was David's promise. It went beyond the small thing his servant had asked. And more than this, he told him he had gained the king's ear. What a place this was to occupy! Honour, wealth, rank are nothing compared with this.
What the old man would not take for himself came to his family.
He rewards that devoted old man far beyond his own wishes, through his sons. At first only Chimham was in view; now all the sons of Barzillai have a right to a place at the king's table, in return for the faithfulness of their father… Let us remember this in our families. The devotion of parents to Christ is repaid in their children.
The story holds both a likeness and a contrast.
The lesson of all this history is plain, and we can see why it has been kept for us. The likenesses are clear, and so are the contrasts. Barzillai's age stopped David from doing for him what he wanted to do… But nothing can hinder the Lord Jesus rewarding as He will all who have followed Him in His rejection, and none will suffer injustice in that day. He will confess them before His Father, and before His angels.
- Served. Barzillai fed David when the king was driven out. Age was never his excuse for staying home.
- Refused. Offered a place at court, he said his years had taken his taste and his hearing. He had not been working for pay.
- Reversed. Most people do the opposite: an excuse to dodge the service, an eager hand for the reward.
- Exceeded. David promised more than Barzillai asked. He gave Chimham the king's ear, and later all Barzillai's sons sat at the royal table.
- Completed. Barzillai's weakness limited what David could give. Nothing limits what Christ will give to those who stood by Him in His rejection.
Thy servant will go a little way over the Jordan with the king; and why should the king recompense it to me with this reward?
Barzillai had kept David supplied through the worst of Absalom's rebellion, and now the restored king wants to take him home to court. Here the old man answers: he will cross a little way, then turn back, and he cannot see why such kindness needs such a reward.
David's reward was not money or land but his own company. One writer sets it beside what David gave two other men — life to one, land to another:
Life to Shimei, possessions in the land to Mephibosheth, but nearness to the king himself and a place at his table for Barzillai. This is what he measured out to each. "Come over with me, and I will provide for you with me in Jerusalem." Barzillai had served David beyond the Jordan. Now David would have him beside him ever after, seeing his royal state and blessed with the favour of the Lord's anointed. "With me" — nothing less — was what he desired for Barzillai: with himself, and in Jerusalem. And as the words "with me" fall on the ear, do they not recall similar language from David's Son, spoken before His disciples to His Father? "Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am."
The distance Barzillai names is short on purpose. He wants the king's company for the crossing, not a new life at court:
His riches had let him supply David during David's exile from Jerusalem. Now David wants to return his kindness by providing for Barzillai at Jerusalem. But Barzillai wisely declines this. At his advanced age of 80 years there was no good reason for him to leave his usual home to seek the pleasures of royal living. He would cross the Jordan to enjoy the king's company for this brief time, but he wanted to return to his own home.
What makes the refusal striking is that his age never stopped him when there was something to give. It only stops him when there is something to receive:
He had not worked with any view of reward, richly though he deserved it... When David was in need in the wilderness, Barzillai's age was no hindrance to his bringing help in person. When the king was to recross the Jordan, he did not let the weakness of age be a reason for his absence... In how different a way do men generally act, putting forth an excuse to avoid the service, but grasping eagerly at the reward!
Another writer names what drove the service, and why reward was never the point:
He had not served his rejected Master for reward or acknowledgement; it was love that so freely gave of his wealth to the king in those darkest of days, and love does not give for reward.
Barzillai's question is not modesty for its own sake. One writer takes it as the natural speech of anyone who has understood what God has given:
"Why should the king repay me with such a reward?" Who could fail to see the bearing of this? Surely this is the language of everyone now who has received the grace of God, and it will be stronger later in the glory. To think that such as we shall be in God's glory! To be saved from the judgment to come is beyond all our understanding; but to be conformed to the image of His Son is even beyond that. Again we echo the aged Barzillai's words: "And why should the king repay me with such a reward?"
David's power to reward had limits. One writer sets him beside a King who has none:
Barzillai's age stopped David from acting toward him as he would have wished. And his hasty action about Mephibosheth tells us we have only a man like ourselves before us. But nothing can stop the Lord Jesus from rewarding as He will all who have followed Him in His rejection. No one will suffer injustice in that day.
David's answer did not stop with the father. It reached his sons:
Barzillai returns to his place with the warmth of love, the joy of blessings, and with David's promise: "Whatever you ask of me, I will do for you." He also has that other glorious promise: that his son, yes, even his sons, should pass over with the king, never to leave him, and sit forever at the table of the King of glory!
- Love gave. Barzillai supplied the king while the king was an outcast, and love of that kind never had payment in view.
- Love escorted. He crossed the Jordan only to honour the king's return, then asked to go home. The journey was for David, not for himself.
- Love wondered. His question — why such a reward? — is the language of everyone who has received grace, and it will sound louder in glory.
- Love passed it on. What the old man declined for himself he asked for his son, and Barzillai's sons ended up at the king's table.
- Love rewarded. Age and his own mistakes limited what David could repay. The Lord Jesus has no such limit, and He will overlook no one who served Him in His rejection.
Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, by the grave of my father and of my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what seems good to thee.
Barzillai has crossed the Jordan with the returning king, who offered him a place at the royal table in Jerusalem. The old man turns the offer down and asks to die near his parents' grave, but he sends Chimham over in his place.
David's offer was generous, and Barzillai had earned it many times over. His refusal exposes what had driven him all along — not the hope of a return, but care for a king in trouble.
Barzillai raises an objection to this offer. He had not worked with any thought of reward, richly though he deserved it. He had thought of the king in his rejection, and had done what he could to help him. He had come, too, to honour David as he returned to his capital. But court life did not suit a man like him. His age would not let him enjoy the pleasures of the king's house... Most people act very differently. They make an excuse to avoid the service, but grab eagerly at the reward! Barzillai was not like this; he thought of the king and acted at once.
Commentators read his request as sound judgement about what an eighty-year-old needs.
But Barzillai wisely declines this. He was eighty years old. At that age there was no good reason to leave his familiar home and seek the pleasures of royal living. He would cross the Jordan to enjoy the king's company for this short time, but he wanted to return to his own home.
The verse names his own town and his parents' grave. The reason behind that request is plain.
Barzillai wanted to stay and die among his own people. Old age, with death not far off, effectively blocked the king's wish.
What Barzillai will not take for himself, he asks for another. He names no terms and sets no price.
He would return home himself. But he offers his son Chimham to go with the king: "do for him whatever seems good to you." And the king answered, "Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do for him whatever seems good to you."
Commentators differ on who Chimham was. One calls him Barzillai's son; another calls him his servant, and looks at what the move would mean for the young man.
He asks that the king's kindness go to his servant Chimham instead. The younger man would no doubt have opportunity of advancement when brought to the king's court. But David answers that he would do for Chimham whatever Barzillai desired, and anything more that he might ask.
One writer traces the young man's name back to its Hebrew root.
The name Chimham means "Great Desire", "Longing". It comes from a Hebrew root meaning "to long for" anything; it occurs only once in the Bible, in Psalm 63:1 — "my flesh longs for you", which the ESV renders "my flesh faints for you"... And so it came about that although Barzillai himself could not go to Jerusalem with David, his "Longing" did go over, and lived there with the king.
Barzillai never enjoyed the king's table himself. His sons did — and the arrangement outlived him by decades.
He rewards that devoted old man far beyond his desires in the person of his sons. At first the offer covered Chimham alone. Now all the sons of Barzillai have a right at the king's table in return for the faithfulness of their father. They enjoyed the glory of the kingdom in a particular position of honour and intimacy. Let us be mindful of this in our families. The devotion of parents to Christ is rewarded in their children.
Barzillai asked only for a grave at home. He got a lasting memorial in the king's own birthplace.
For not only did David give Chimham a place before him, but he assigned him a portion in the city of the king's birth. In the city of his father's house Chimham owned a possession. Barzillai was of the tribe of Gad... but Chimham from then on had a portion in Judah... The kingdom of Judah lasted until Babylon carried the people away. All that time, Chimham's portion by Bethlehem stood as a lasting witness to Barzillai's faithfulness, and to David's acknowledgment of it.
- Motive — Barzillai served a rejected king with no thought of reward. So refusing a reward cost him no struggle.
- Limit — At eighty he knew what he could no longer enjoy. He asked only to die at home, among his own people, near his parents' grave.
- Substitute — What he would not take for himself he handed to Chimham. He left the terms to the king.
- Longing — Chimham's name means "longing". Barzillai stayed home, but his longing crossed the Jordan and lived beside the king.
- Reward — David gave far more than Barzillai asked. All his sons sat at the king's table, and land by Bethlehem outlasted him.
And the king said, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which seems good to thee; and whatsoever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee.
David's reply at the Jordan closes an exchange with Barzillai, an eighty-year-old man who had fed the king while he was driven from his throne. It asks how a king repays love shown to him in his rejection, and why the reward goes to a younger man.
Barzillai asked only that David treat Chimham as he thought fit. One writer notes that David gave the old man's own words back to him enlarged, and added something Barzillai had not asked for.
Who could refuse such a touching request? "Do for him what seems good to you" had been Barzillai's request. "I will do for him whatever seems good to you" was David's promise, reaching beyond the modest request of his servant. And more than this, he told him he had gained the king's ear. What a place was this to occupy! Honour, wealth, rank, are nothing compared with this. To be with the king was David's wish for him, to have the king's ear was that of which David now assured him.
David first made this offer to Barzillai, who turned it down. He refused because he had never served for payment.
In contrast to Mephibosheth, the offer of earthly blessings puts Barzillai to the test. He was very rich, but very different from the young man whom "Jesus loved." He had placed his fortune at the king's disposal during his stay at Mahanaim. His great age had not hindered him from giving himself, body and goods, in service to David... But Barzillai had not laboured for a reward, and judging himself unworthy of it, he refuses... Let his son Chimham profit from the fruit of his labour: far from opposing this, Barzillai rejoices in it.
David's answer also settles a practical problem. Barzillai had nothing to gain from palace life. A younger man had everything to gain.
At 80 years old, he had no good reason to leave the home he knew for the pleasures of royal living. He would cross the Jordan to enjoy the king's company for that short time, but he wanted to return to his own home. However, he asks the king to show this kindness to his servant Chimham instead. The younger man would surely have a chance to rise at the king's court.
The promise did not stay at its original size. David later widened it, and one writer draws a lesson from that for families.
He rewards that devoted old man far beyond his desires in the person of his sons. At first only Chimham was involved. Now all the sons of Barzillai have a right at the king's table, in return for their father's faithfulness. They enjoyed the glory of the kingdom in a particular position of honour and intimacy. Let us be mindful of this in our families. The devotion of parents to Christ finds its reward in their children.
David's word to Chimham did not evaporate when the two men died. It left a mark on the map of Judah that lasted for centuries.
For not only did David give Chimham a place before him, but he assigned him a portion in the city of the king's birth. In the city of his father's house Chimham owned a possession (Jer. 41:17). Barzillai was of the tribe of Gad... but Chimham had from then on a portion in Judah... And Chimham's portion by Bethlehem remained a lasting witness of Barzillai's faithfulness, and of David's recognition of it. It stood until the Babylonian captivity ended the kingdom of Judah.
The same writer is careful not to make David flawless. Age limited what he could give Barzillai. An earlier hasty decision had already shown he was only a man. That is where the picture turns to someone greater.
Barzillai's age kept David from doing all he wanted for him. And his hasty action about Mephibosheth tells us we have only a man like ourselves before us. But nothing can stop the Lord Jesus from rewarding as He will all who have followed Him in His rejection. No one will suffer injustice on that day.
- Service first. Barzillai gave the king his wealth, "body and goods," while the king was driven out. He never worked for a reward.
- Reward answered. David gives more than Barzillai asked: a place with the king for Chimham, and the promise that Barzillai had the king's ear.
- Reach widened. It began with one son. It ended with all Barzillai's sons at the king's table — a parent's devotion repaid in the children.
- Record kept. The portion by Bethlehem stood as a lasting witness to one man's faithfulness and one king's memory of it.
- Limit removed. Age and his own mistakes limited what David could repay. Nothing limits Christ, who will reward all who followed Him in His rejection.
And all the people went over the Jordan; and the king went over; and the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned to his own place.
After a long exile, David is going home to be king again. Barzillai fed him through those years, and the parting at the river asks what a king owes such a man.
David offered to repay him with a place in Jerusalem. Barzillai said no.
His wealth had let him supply David during his exile from Jerusalem. Now David wants to return his kindness by providing for Barzillai at Jerusalem. But Barzillai wisely declines this. At 80 years old he had no good reason to leave the home he was used to and chase the pleasures of royal living. He would cross the Jordan to enjoy the king's company for this short time, but he wanted to go back to his own home in Gilead.
His refusal was not about the size of the offer. It was about why he had served at all.
He had not worked with any thought of reward, though he richly deserved it. He had thought of the king when the king was rejected, and had done what he could to help him. He had also come to honour David on his return to his capital. But court life did not suit such a man, since his age kept him from enjoying the pleasures of the king's house… Most men act very differently. They put forward an excuse to avoid the service, but grasp eagerly at the reward! Barzillai was not like this; he thought of the king and acted at once.
Not everyone in that crowd had earned the same honour.
So they parted, but not before David had kissed him and blessed him — and that on the right side of the Jordan. They had crossed the river back, and the king was sovereign again in the land of Canaan, when he kissed him and blessed him. All Israel could see that day whom the king delighted to honour. The crowd was right to escort King David back, but Barzillai had done what others had not. These were around the king in the day of his return; Barzillai had been with him when they had cast him out.
One writer counts three things Barzillai took home. The first was David's promise; the other two happen in this verse.
The second is that as he leaves, David gives him a token of his love: "The king kissed Barzillai." Through this kiss he, like Enoch, receives the testimony that he has pleased God in the person of His anointed. The third is that the king "blessed him." Jesus too lifted His hands to bless His beloved disciples when He left them, and He keeps the same attitude towards us today. His hands are invisible, but they stay lifted up over us. They leave in our hearts the certainty that His work is fully effective. Barzillai returns to his place with the warmth of love, the joy of blessings, and with David's promise: "Whatever you ask of me, I will do for you."
Barzillai went home, and his son Chimham went on with the king. The reward did not stop there.
He rewards that devoted old man far beyond his desires in the person of his sons. At first only Chimham was involved. Now all Barzillai's sons have a right at the king's table, in return for their father's faithfulness… Let us be mindful of this in our families. The devotion of parents to Christ is rewarded in their children.
David was only a man, and it showed.
Barzillai's age kept David from doing all he wished for him. His hasty decision about Mephibosheth tells us we have only a man like ourselves before us. But nothing can hinder the Lord Jesus rewarding as He will all who have followed Him in His rejection, and no one will suffer injustice in that day.
- Service first. Barzillai supported David when enemies drove the king out, long before anyone offered him a reward.
- Reward refused. He turned down a seat at the king's table. He had never served for pay.
- Kiss given. The restored king kissed him in public, on the Canaan side of the Jordan. It was the sign that his loyalty had pleased the one he served.
- Blessing carried. He went home with a blessing and an open-ended promise, which is more than he asked for.
- Reach extended. What he refused for himself reached his son, and then all his sons at the king's table. Devotion to the king outlives the servant.