The King's Circle: Counsel, Friendship, and the Fear of God
Introduction: The Gravity of the Inner Ring
We live in an age that despises authority, and consequently, has no earthly idea what to do with counsel. The modern man, particularly the democratic man, believes his own uninstructed opinion is a sacred thing. He consults with his feelings, takes a poll of his desires, and then pronounces his verdict as though it were delivered from on high. The idea of submitting his plans to the scrutiny of wiser men strikes him as an infringement on his autonomy. But the Scriptures teach us that a man who is his own counselor has a fool for a client. This is true for the common man trying to manage his household, and it is exponentially true for a king who governs a nation.
As we come to the end of this long chapter in 1 Chronicles, the Spirit of God sees fit to give us what appears to be a simple list of names, a peek into the organizational chart of David's kingdom. We see the military divisions, the tribal leaders, the managers of the royal property. But the list concludes here, with the inner circle, the men who had the king's ear. We must not read this as a dry appendix. This is the nerve center of the kingdom. A king's reign is not just a matter of his own character; it is a matter of the voices he permits to speak into his life. The throne is surrounded, and the character of that throne is determined by the character of those who surround it.
This passage is a snapshot of David's cabinet. And in this cabinet, we see a taxonomy of influence: the wise counselor, the trusted friend, the shrewd strategist, and the military man. Each represents a different kind of input, a different voice that a leader needs. But as we will see, and as David's own life painfully demonstrates, not all counsel is created equal. The presence of a multitude of counselors is for safety, as Proverbs tells us, but that assumes the counselors fear God. A multitude of godless counselors is simply a multitude of ways to drive the kingdom into a ditch. Here we see the ideal, the structure of a court ordered for stability. But lurking behind these names are the shadows of Absalom's rebellion, the ghost of shrewd but godless advice, and the ever-present reality that a king's greatest vulnerability is often the man he trusts the most.
Therefore, this is a deeply practical text. We may not be kings, but we all have a kingdom to govern, whether it is our own soul, our family, or our business. And we all have counselors, whether we call them that or not. We have friends, we read books, we listen to podcasts, we have advisors. The question is not whether you are receiving counsel, but from whom, and to what end? This passage invites us to audit our own inner circle.
The Text
Also Jonathan, David’s uncle, was a counselor, a man of understanding, and a scribe; and Jehiel the son of Hachmoni was with the king’s sons. Ahithophel was counselor to the king; and Hushai the Archite was the king’s friend. Jehoiada the son of Benaiah, and Abiathar succeeded Ahithophel; and Joab was the commander of the king’s army.
(1 Chronicles 27:32-34 LSB)
Wisdom, Literacy, and Legacy (v. 32)
We begin with the foundational roles of wisdom and education.
"Also Jonathan, David’s uncle, was a counselor, a man of understanding, and a scribe; and Jehiel the son of Hachmoni was with the king’s sons." (1 Chronicles 27:32)
The first counselor mentioned is Jonathan, David's uncle. Notice the qualifications. He is not just a counselor, but a "man of understanding, and a scribe." This is a crucial combination. Counsel without understanding is just noise. Understanding without the ability to articulate it and record it, the skill of a scribe, is fleeting. This Jonathan represents institutional wisdom. He is family, an elder statesman who brings with him the stability of history and kinship. He is a man of the book. A scribe was not a mere copyist; he was a scholar of the law of God. This means the first and most important voice in the king's ear was to be a voice shaped by the Word of God. The foundation of all good counsel is "Thus saith the Lord."
A kingdom that is not grounded in the fixed standard of God's law will be a kingdom adrift on the sea of political expediency and popular opinion. A scribe brought the written standard to bear on every decision. He was the constitutional lawyer, and the constitution was the Torah. This is why literacy, and more than that, deep biblical literacy, is the bedrock of a stable civilization. When a nation's leaders are biblically illiterate, they are necessarily untethered from reality, because they are untethered from the God who defines reality.
And where does this wisdom get aimed? Directly at the next generation. We are told that Jehiel was "with the king's sons." He was their tutor. A godly king knows that the most important project he has is not a building campaign or a foreign war, but the faithful preparation of his sons to carry on the covenant. David is securing the future of the kingdom by entrusting his heirs to a man who can impart this same God-centered wisdom. The education of the royal princes was a matter of state security. If the princes were fools, the kingdom would have a fool on the throne in a generation. So it is with us. The single most strategic, long-term thing we can do for the future of the church and the nation is to ensure that our children are being taught by faithful Jehiels, and not by the court tutors of our modern secular state.
The Treachery of Brilliance and the Loyalty of Friendship (v. 33)
Verse 33 presents us with a stark and dramatic contrast, one that played out in the most painful episode of David's life.
"Ahithophel was counselor to the king; and Hushai the Archite was the king’s friend." (1 Chronicles 27:33)
Here are two of the most famous counselors in all of Scripture, side by side. First, Ahithophel. The Bible tells us elsewhere that "the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counseled in those days, was as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God" (2 Samuel 16:23). This man was brilliant. He was the sharpest political mind in the kingdom. His advice was not just good; it was supernaturally insightful. He was the wisest man in the room, by a long shot. And he was a traitor.
When Absalom rebelled, Ahithophel, the grandfather of Bathsheba, saw his chance for revenge and joined the conspiracy. His counsel to Absalom was militarily perfect. Had it been followed, David would have been killed, and the rebellion would have succeeded. This teaches us a terrifying lesson: brilliance is not the same as righteousness. Shrewdness is not the same as holiness. A man can have an IQ of 160 and still be a damnable fool if he does not fear the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, which means that wisdom that does not begin with the fear of the Lord is a counterfeit wisdom. It is a sharp, glittering, and deadly thing. We must not be impressed with the Ahithophels of our day, the secular experts and technocrats who offer us clever and godless solutions to our problems. Their wisdom is earthly, sensual, and demonic.
Set in contrast to Ahithophel is Hushai the Archite. He is not called the king's counselor here, but rather "the king's friend." This is a formal title, a position of immense trust and intimacy. Hushai's defining characteristic was not his strategic brilliance, though he was certainly clever, but his loyalty. When Ahithophel betrayed David, Hushai remained faithful, at great personal risk. He went into Absalom's court as a spy for David, and it was his counsel, a piece of deliberately bad military advice, that God used to frustrate the good counsel of Ahithophel. God ordained that Absalom should listen to the loyal friend give bad advice rather than the treacherous genius give good advice, all in order to save His anointed king.
The lesson is plain. A loyal friend who fears God is infinitely more valuable than a brilliant advisor who does not. Friendship, true covenantal loyalty, is a bulwark for any leader. A friend is one who has your good at heart, who is bound to you by love and oath. An advisor is simply a hired mind. David needed both, but when the crisis came, it was the friend, not the genius, who saved him. Every man needs a Hushai in his life, a friend who will stick closer than a brother, who will tell him the truth, and who will have his back when the world caves in.
Succession and a Standing Army (v. 34)
The final verse shows us the continuity of counsel and the reality of force.
"Jehoiada the son of Benaiah, and Abiathar succeeded Ahithophel; and Joab was the commander of the king’s army." (1 Chronicles 27:34)
After Ahithophel's treason and subsequent suicide, his office did not remain vacant. The institution of counsel was essential. He was succeeded by Jehoiada and Abiathar. Abiathar was the priest who had been with David since his flight from Saul. He represents the formal, priestly counsel, bringing the Urim and Thummim, the direct inquiry of God's will, into the king's court. Jehoiada, the son of the formidable Benaiah, represents the next generation of wise men. Counsel must be institutional, not personal. It must outlive the men who hold the office.
And finally, we have Joab. He is not called a counselor or a friend. He is "the commander of the king's army." Joab was David's nephew, a fiercely loyal and brutally effective military man. He was also a pragmatist who was not above murdering his rivals and disobeying the king when he thought it necessary. Joab represents the hard edge of reality. A king can have all the wise counsel and loyal friends he wants, but without a Joab, without the sword of the magistrate, the kingdom cannot stand. Government, at its root, is force. It is the power to compel, to punish evil, and to defend the innocent. All the wisdom of Jonathan and the loyalty of Hushai would be for nothing if the Ammonites could cross the border with impunity.
Joab's presence here at the end of the list is a reminder that a kingdom in a fallen world must be prepared for war. Righteousness must have teeth. This is not a contradiction of the gospel, but an application of it. The magistrate bears the sword as God's deacon, an avenger of wrath on the one who does evil (Romans 13:4). A sentimental piety that has no place for a man like Joab is a piety that cannot govern. Wisdom, friendship, priestly guidance, and military power, all must work together, under the authority of a king who fears God.
Your Personal Cabinet
So, we must bring this home. This is not just a page from David's personnel file. It is a paradigm for how we are to structure our own lives. You are the king of your own soul, and you have a cabinet, a set of counselors who shape your decisions every day.
Who is your Jonathan? Who is the scribe in your life, the voice that constantly brings you back to the written Word of God? Is your thinking shaped by Scripture, or by the talking heads on the news? You must have a Jonathan, a pastor, an elder, a mentor, who is a man of understanding and a scribe.
Who is tutoring your children? Are they being raised by Jehiel, in the fear and admonition of the Lord, or are they being catechized by the high priests of secularism in the government schools? This is the battle for the next generation, and it is happening in your home.
And you must be ruthlessly honest about the Ahithophels you listen to. What brilliant, worldly-wise voices are you allowing to shape your thinking about money, sex, or power? The world is full of clever men who will give you shrewd advice on how to get ahead, and every word of it is poison because it leaves God out of the equation. Their counsel will seem like an oracle, but it leads to death. You must identify the Ahithophels in your life and tune them out.
Instead, you must cultivate friendships with men like Hushai. You need loyal friends, men who are bound to you in Christ, who will weep with you, rejoice with you, and if necessary, risk everything for you. Such friendship is not a luxury; it is a necessity for Christian endurance. And you must be that kind of friend to others.
Finally, you need a Joab. Not in the sense of personal vengeance, but in the sense of recognizing that we are in a war. You must be prepared to be ruthless with your own sin. You must take up the sword of the Spirit and put sin to death. You must be a commander, exercising dominion over your own passions and desires. A sentimental Christian who makes peace with his own sin is a king who has already surrendered his throne to the enemy.
David's court was a mixture of wisdom, treachery, loyalty, and violence. Our own hearts are much the same. The call of the gospel is to submit our entire inner circle to the authority of the great King, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the true and better Counselor, the Friend who sticks closer than a brother, our great High Priest, and the Captain of the Lord's armies. Let Him appoint your counselors. Let His Word be your scribe. Let His friends be your friends. And He will establish the throne of your heart in righteousness, forever.