Like A Bear Deprived of Her Cubs

577 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from: 2Sa 17:5-8, “ Then Absalom said, "Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he says too." 6 And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, "Ahithophel has spoken in this manner. Shall we do as he says? If not, speak up." 7 So Hushai said to Absalom: "The advice that Ahithophel has given is not good at this time. 8 "For," said Hushai, "you know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are enraged in their minds, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field; and your father is a man of war, and will not camp with the people. (2 Sam 17:5-8) Absalom now calls David's other trusted adviser Hushai and asks him what he thinks of Ahithophel's plan. Hushai, says, “Not a good idea Absalom.' Then he describes the state of David and his men when they left the city. He says they were “enraged in their minds, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field.” The maternal protective fervor of the mama bear is and always has been well noted. Hushai's comparison has the effect of immediately causing Absalom to draw back. Discretion might be the better part of valor here. This is not the only place in Scripture where the fierceness of a mama bear is noted. In Ho 13:4-8 we read, "Yet I am the LORD your God Ever since the land of Egypt, And you shall know no God but Me; For there is no Savior besides Me. 5 I knew you in the wilderness, In the land of great drought. 6 When they had pasture, they were filled; They were filled and their heart was exalted; Therefore they forgot Me. 7 "So I will be to them like a lion; Like a leopard by the road I will lurk; 8 I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs; I will tear open their rib cage, And there I will devour them like a lion. Wow! This is a picture of God that isn't painted very often. Yet here it is. He was upset with the people because when they experienced material blessing they became full of themselves and stopped relying on Him. They “forgot Him!” Ex 34:14 '(for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God). People don't forget God! To forget God is to lay Him aside. When you do, you are being as foolish as one who would poke a bear cub with a stick when mama bear is present. Father, guard our hearts from idolatry. Help us to acknowledge You in all our ways.