In his own words, a friend of mine said he "chased a rabbit down the trail" last Friday on chapter 20. I'm glad he did. Here's what he wrote:
"I wanted to understand the choices David made in rebuilding his administration. The greatness of David leadership was not built upon him alone; he kept trying to bring together an effective team. Here is what I found:
Benaiah means built up by the Lord was a very courageous and loyal officer of King David and then David's son and successor King Solomon. David put him in charge of the Kerethites and Pelethites who were a bit like a mercenary team made up of quasi-enemies of the state that had become loyal to David. These people were around at several important moments to assist David (Absalom’s revolt, ascension of Solomon…). These people were a Praetorian Guard for David. He later replaced Joab after Solomon had Joab executed and he also killed Adonijah.
Adoniram whose name means: My Lord Is Exalted was a prince, able administrator, and the son of Abda. Adoniram served as overseer of those conscripted for forced labor during the reigns of David, Solomon, and Rehoboam, playing an important part in Solomon's many building projects.
Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the historian, the chronicler, and the rememberer. Sheva a secretary or administrator. Zadok and Abiathar were priests - Although Zadok, which means righteous, was of the line of Eleazar, he held the position of High Priest, at first, jointly or alternately, with Abiathar. That changed due to the political choices that were made by the priests themselves; Zadok remained loyal to David and Solomon, while Abiathar supported Solomon's rival.
Ira the Jairite now becomes the personal counselor to the king, a position previously held by the sons of David, but that did not work out so well. He is the king's chaplain. Joab – now leads the entire army.
David now has someone in position to counterbalance the power that Joab has amassed; he has someone in charge of labor, administration, and record keeping and ministering to the people. Finally he also has a confidant. As David matures, he realizes he cannot do it all alone and he is being more judicious in his selection of people (as opposed to picking Amasa to lead the army)."
Sounds like a great "Board of Directors".
It's interesting how a fear of failure (or failing again) manifests itself in two different ways (1) wanting to do it right no matter what, which humbles us and makes us desire to put the right people around us and letting go or (2) wanting to do it right, wo we lock down and try to control everything. Maybe the difference is in seeing how the initial failure was ultimately ours and about our inabilities or choices and not others. It all starts from the top, and as they say... it all rolls downhill from there.
The greatness of David leadership was not built upon him alone, it's interesting however, that the failures of leadership are most always from doing things alone.
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The line, "you can't do it all yourself," is the truth. There is too much work for God to do by ourselves. All part of the same body but, different jobs comes to mind. To do it right, God has made us different. He knew we would need help from the time He gave Eve to Adam. We just can't do it. We need to make sure though that when we give someone a job, what the do will reflect on us. Trust has to be huge when you start giving out jobs.
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