When God Overrules the Counsel of the Wise. (2 Samuel 17: 1-29)

Jan 28, 2026

A study of competing plans and how human brilliance can still be overturned. A brilliant night attack is proposed, then a rival plan sways a proud leader. Hidden interventions and ordinary people quietly protect a fleeing king. A narrow escape across the river changes the tide and a brilliant counselor meets a tragic end.

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INSIGHT

Divine Sovereignty Overrules Human Plans

Human wisdom can be flawless on paper yet still fail against God's purposes.
Jeremy McCandless shows that divine sovereignty can quietly overturn the best human strategies.

INSIGHT

Brilliant Strategy Can Be Spiritually Wrong

Ahithophel's plan to strike David at night was strategically precise and devastating.
Jeremy frames this as brilliant tactically but spiritually bankrupt because it targeted God's anointed.

INSIGHT

God Works Through Hearts And Flattery

God influences outcomes by bending hearts, not only by miracles or force.
Hushai's flattery appealed to Absalom's pride and became the means God used to frustrate Ahithophel.

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Today, we move into a chapter where the real battle isn’t fought with swords or armies — it’s fought with counsel, with strategy, and with the unseen hand of God quietly shaping the outcome.

This is the chapter where human wisdom on one level reaches its highest point… and yet still falls short of the purposes of God. It’s where the most brilliant strategist in Israel gives flawless advice — and God overturns it with a word. It’s where Absalom looks unstoppable — and yet the seeds of his downfall are already being sown.

We’re going to walk through this chapter today in three sections:

1. Ahithophel’s Counsel — Brilliant, Ruthless, and Humanly Unbeatable. t is almost flawless. From heaven’s perspective, it is already doomed.

2. Hushai’s Counter‑Counsel. Then Hushai steps forward with a plan that appeals not to strategy, but to Absalom’s ego. And in that moment, God bends the heart of a rebellious son towards choosing the wrong plan — the very thing that will save David’s life.

3. The Escape — God's Protection of David. David is exhausted, vulnerable, and outnumbered — but he is not unprotected.

This chapter is a helpful reminder that God does not need the odds in His favour to accomplish His will. He simply speaks — and the counsel of the wise is overturned.

Welcome to the episode….

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