Ahithophel the Gilonite has changed sides. In 2 Samuel 11:3 we read that Bathsheba is the daughter of Eliam, and in 2 Samuel 23:34, we read that Eliam is the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite. So, it does seem possible that Bathsheba was his granddaughter and that he holds something against David.

This is a man greatly gifted by God with wisdom, and yet, it seems maybe he’s holding a grudge. Ahithophel will recommend that he go kill David himself. Instead, he’s the one who ends up dead.

Ahithophel’s advice is for Absalom to sin against God and his father. It may have been good advice in terms of warfare tactics, but it didn’t win the war because God’s righteousness wins the day.

Righteousness, by the way, is justice. The words righteousness and justice are used by translators for the same word in the Hebrew. His righteousness is just and his justice is always right. God is not this or that. He is ALL, all the time.

And all your gifts and talents, while being from God, don’t amount to righteousness. You don’t earn favor by using gifts and talents. You earn favor by living in God’s righteousness. Why? Only the things done by the Spirit are of any eternal worth. Everything else will burn up.

God gives people gifts and talents but then they might use them for their own glory and purposes. But righteousness, true righteousness, comes from God alone. Man cannot be righteous on his own, so if there is righteousness, God’s work is being accomplished, and we can know there is eternal value in it.

That’s another reason we should submit to God in our suffering and not try to work our way out of it. God uses suffering to bring out righteousness. We shouldn’t want the momentary relief; we should want the eternal reward of righteousness, which is what enables us to be in God’s presence.

We’re not to seek after kingdoms on this earth. They will be taken away and destroyed. We’re to hunger and thirst for righteousness. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness have a promise from God: they will be satisfied!