2 Samuel 16:16

At his meeting with Absalom, Hushai takes up the part David gave him. He plays it with a cleverness that shows us why David trusted him. The new king answers his repeated greeting coldly. Absalom is the chief traitor himself, yet he is surprised that another man has deserted. But the "king's friend" had doubtless earned the title by acts that were unmistakable. So Absalom's surprise ran much deeper than the confidence he showed later. Indeed, all through this scene there is a certain ambiguity, hinting how unwilling Hushai was even to look like a deserter.

Suppose the king sits firmly on his throne, and no rebel rises up to dispute his right to be there. Then it is easy to look loyal, and to cry with the crowd, "God save the king!" But rebellion may spread far among the masses. The people's favourite may no longer be the king, but some man reaching for royal power and honour. Then the king finds out who his real friends are, though a short while ago he was perhaps cheered wherever he went. He can tell the flattering courtier from the loyal subject. The day of the king's rejection is the day for the subject to declare himself.

Absalom was surprised by the presence of Hushai, who greeted him enthusiastically, "Long live the king! Long live the king!" Of course we know that Hushai really meant King David, but he knew Absalom would not see through this.

Hushai has a different character from Ittai. It is just as beautiful in its own way, and he knows God's thoughts even better. Hushai is David's close friend. A great love unites them, and they have no secrets from one another. Yet Hushai, unlike Ittai, agrees to part from his friend for a time. This is painful for a man who had come to David to show his sympathy. But he chooses the best way to serve him, and returns to Jerusalem. With his deep, calm love for his friend, Hushai has an understanding that not even the high priests had. David himself gives him this understanding: you shall "defeat the counsel of Ahithophel." It is through closeness with Christ that we receive His thoughts.

However, David did not leave this matter fully with God. When Hushai came to him, he saw a chance to plant his own secret agent in Absalom's court… This was not faith on David's part. He told Hushai to lie to Absalom, and to say he would be Absalom's servant just as he had been David's servant. The matter did work out as David hoped. But if he had simply trusted God, he might have seen Him work in a more miraculous way.

So Hushai's plot, acting as a spy for David, saved the king. But would the king have been lost if Hushai had not played the spy? The Lord would not have forsaken the king, and though He used Hushai's counsel, yet David was the loser after all. He lost the opportunity of seeing the Lord's power and intervention on his behalf. And how much we also lose through lack of faith in Him, for nothing is too hard for Him.

Hushai goes to Absalom and opposes in every way the counsel of Ahithophel. So also in those future days the Lord will know how to defeat all the plans of the devil.