Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - The Answers AI Can't Give You | Historical Books | 2 Samuel 19:1-15

Episode Date: July 8, 2025

What do humans have that AI doesn't? What's the difference between information and insight? Do you have a friend who will speak hard truths into your life? In today's episode, Tanya shares how 2 Samuel 19:1-15 encourages us to listen for God's and others' insight. If you're listening on Spotify, tell us about yourself and where you're listening from! Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 2 Samuel 19:1-15

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life in the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmeth. So let's talk about AI. You may call yours GROC or Perplexity or Chat GAPT. A 2025 Deloise study found that over half of millennials and Jinzi use AI every day, and I don't think that statistic surprises you. I'm not even end one of those generations, and I use it every day as well. It's not hard to see why we use it. It makes research quick. It makes us more creative. it makes our planning better. It can give us fast results and pretty impressive ideas. Recently, Eric and I used AI to plan a walking tour in Barcelona. And we had everything from metro stops to walking directions that even told us where to eat brunch. It was quick to do. It was clear. It was convenient. But once we met up with our real tour guide and explored the city with someone

who knew it deeply, we realized something. We had brunch at a chain restaurant. And our route had taken us just two blocks away from one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in the city. We missed it entirely because the algorithm had focused on the most efficient path. AI got us where we needed to go, but it took a person to help us really see and appreciate the city. And that's often true in life. If you want to grow, not just in knowledge, but in wisdom, you need more than tools. You need insight. And insight comes from something AI can't offer.

It comes from God's word and God's. people. God often uses others to help us grow in ways we never could on our own. He uses their voices to reveal what we can't see in ourselves. He uses them to ask us hard questions and to help us better understand what we value, why we struggle, and where we're headed. If you want to be a better friend, parent, co-worker, or follower of Jesus, you don't just need more information. You need real connection. The book of Proverbs makes that clear. Listen to these verses, Proverbs 1017, who, Whoever Heads discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray. In Proverbs 15.5, the one who heeds correction shows prudence.

And Proverbs 1531, the one who heeds life-giving correction is at home among the wise. God's word and God's people offer insight, and it is through that insight that we grow. We see this in David's story. In 2nd Samuel 19, David is devastated. His son Absalom has led a rebellion against him trying to take his throne and his life. Now Absalom is dead and David is crushed. But it wasn't just the grief of losing a son. David also lost the hope of what his family could have been.

He was grieving a future that he only imagined, a family that he wanted, the kind of father he wished he had been. His life was an emotional mess. The kingdom had been saved, but his personal life felt like it was false. apart. And in his grief, David shut down. He couldn't lead. He couldn't speak. The army that had just risked everything for him stood outside. They were directionalists, confused, and honestly growing angry. That's when Joab stepped in. Joab, well, in this case, he wasn't very subtle. He actually walked into the king's house and told him the truth that he didn't really want to hear.

Joab said, Today you have humiliated all your men who just save your life and the lives of your sons and daughters. You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. See, Job was pointing out something that David couldn't see on his own.

His grief was so poignant that it was clouding his judgment. His hopes for what he hoped could have been were so big that he couldn't see what was right in front of him. His sorrow had begun to hurt the very people who had stood by him in this rebellion.

Now, Joab didn't stop there. He said, I see that you'd be pleased if Absalom were alive today and all of us were dead. Then came Joab's call to action. He said, now go out and encourage your men. Now, we don't get to hear David's inner thoughts after that. Scripture doesn't tell us how he felt about Job's words right in that moment, but we do see what he did. David listened. He got up. He went out. He led the people again. See, that's what insight does. It moves us, even when it's hard to hear. And sometimes we will need that same kind of voice in our lives. Because the truth is, we all have blind spots. We all have moments when we love the wrong things,

when we hold on to unhealthy patterns, when we try to protect something that's hurting us or those around us. And we need people, even though they're flawed. We need honest, faithful people who are willing to speak the truth to us. So when that moment comes into your life and when that person speaks a hard truth to you, what will you do? Here are three things to remember. First, hearing and listening are not the same.

You can hear something and feel hurt, angry, or defensive. Or you can slow down and choose to listen. Listening allows space, space for reflection. Listening opens the door in your mind and your heart to growth. Second, the person speaking may be flawed and still right. Joab was not perfect. He was actually far from it. But God still used him to speak truth in David's life. If you wait for someone without faults to tell you hard things,

you'll never hear what you need to hear. Third, you don't have to feel ready in order to step out. in order to act. David didn't feel like leading. He probably didn't feel like encouraging anyone, but he got up anyway. Sometimes obedience comes before emotion, and sometimes growth begins when we do the right thing even before our heart catches up. We live in a world that encourages isolation. We can fill our lives with curated content and AI and algorithm-based advice, but real growth comes through real relationships. Because in the end, AI can offer knowledge and Instagram can offer a created connection. God's word and God's people offer insight. The kind of insight that leads to

wisdom, healing and transformation. So let's not just hear, let's listen and grow. Pray with me, Lord, give us relationships that are built on trust and love. Give us relationships that reflect the way you love us. And through those relationships, use people to wake us up to the things that really matter to you and give us humility to hear, grace to listen, encourage to change. And may you, Lord, receive all the glory. Amen.