2 Samuel 15:1-37
1 And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him.
2 And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy camea to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.
3 And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee.
4 Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!
5 And it was so, that when any man came nigh to him to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him.
6 And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment: so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
7 And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the LORD, in Hebron.
8 For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If the LORD shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD.
9 And the king said unto him, Go in peace. So he arose, and went to Hebron.
10 But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron.
11 And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem, that were called; and they went in their simplicity, and they knew not any thing.
12 And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counsellor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.
13 And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.
14 And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom: make speed to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly, and bringb evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.
15 And the king's servants said unto the king, Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint.c
16 And the king went forth, and all his household afterd him. And the king left ten women, which were concubines, to keep the house.
17 And the king went forth, and all the people after him, and tarried in a place that was far off.
18 And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men which came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.
19 Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? return to thy place, and abide with the king: for thou art a stranger, and also an exile.
20 Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? seeing I go whither I may, return thou, and take back thy brethren: mercy and truth be with thee.
21 And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the LORD liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be.
22 And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him.
23 And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron,e and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.
24 And lo Zadok also, and all the Levites were with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God: and they set down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people had done passing out of the city.
25 And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favour in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again, and shew me both it, and his habitation:
26 But if he thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him.
27 The king said also unto Zadok the priest, Art not thou a seer? return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.
28 See, I will tarry in the plain of the wilderness, until there come word from you to certify me.
29 Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem: and they tarried there.
30 And David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, and weptf as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot: and all the people that was with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up.
31 And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
32 And it came to pass, that when David was come to the top of the mount, where he worshipped God, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat rent, and earth upon his head:
33 Unto whom David said, If thou passest on with me, then thou shalt be a burden unto me:
34 But if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom, I will be thy servant, O king; as I have been thy father's servant hitherto, so will I now also be thy servant: then mayest thou for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel.
35 And hast thou not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar the priests? therefore it shall be, that what thing soever thou shalt hear out of the king's house, thou shalt tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.
36 Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz Zadok's son, and Jonathan Abiathar's son; and by them ye shall send unto me every thing that ye can hear.
37 So Hushai David's friend came into the city, and Absalom came into Jerusalem.
2 Samuel 15:7. After forty years. Some contend that this refers to the time when David was secretly anointed; but as no other record is dated from that time, Josephus seems right in saying “four years” instead of forty. Most critics are agreed that four has been mis-written forty.
2 Samuel 15:25. Carry back the ark of God. Here is a noble mind, a mind great in adversity, and prudent in all his measures. This sorest stroke that ever befel David called all his powers into action, and enkindled his piety to the purest flame: “I will not fear though ten thousand rise up against me.”
Psalms 3:6. God could not fail to save his servant.
2 Samuel 15:27. Art not thou a seer? Seeing the mind of God by the Urim and the Thummim. He sent back the aged priest, as able to do more by counsel and by prayer than he could do in the field.
2 Samuel 15:31. Turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. Prayers of grief and anguish, like those of Hannah, are surely heard in heaven.
2 Samuel 15:33. Thou shalt be a burden to me. Hushai was now an aged man, and unfit for the campaign; yet his intellectual powers were strong, and his knowledge profound in counsel.
REFLECTIONS.
Absalom, on his restoration to the royal favour, as the heir apparent, surrounded his palace with guards, and began to think his father lived too long.
The methods to which he had recourse to seize the throne, were wicked beyond example. He canvassed for the throne under the mask of a wish to be the chancellor. He degraded himself by unsuitable condescensions, for meanness is mostly an attendant on pride. He insulted truth and justice by affirming every cause to be good; and he abused religion by masking treason under the sanctity of paying a vow which had been delayed for six, if not for nine years. When men have attained a certain stage of wickedness, they resemble a carriage in the descent of a hill which has broken the rope, or overpowered the horses: it moves with encreasing velocity, till making a vast leap it is dashed to pieces by its own weight. When God prospers the wicked, it is often with an ultimate view to their greater destruction. Absalom stole away the hearts of the men of Israel, and drew from the court all David's false or lukewarm friends. He brought many troubles on the best of kings; but he relieved him of a lurking faction, which might have been productive of more fatal mischiefs. It is most to be lamented that he should draw after him so many honest men, who had not the least suspicion of his designs.
In David we have an example of great presence of mind on a terrific occasion. Hearing that the nation in general adhered to his son, he sought safety in flight, and rested his cause with the Lord. When a calamity cannot for the present be avoided, it is no small consolation that providence affords us a retreat till the indignation be overpast.
When the people at large forsook him, the people of God and strangers adhered to his cause. He saw himself surrounded by the priests and the levites, for true religion embraces futurity and has a single eye to the glory of God, and affords therefore the best bonds of friendship in the day of tribulation, and under reverses of providence. The Gittites also who had followed him from Gath, followed him still, because they believed that God had not forsaken his anointed. So when Israel at large set the Saviour at nought, the gentiles adhered to his cause.
But David, on leaving Jerusalem, had a thousand piercing reflections. He knew not whether God would cast him off, but he rested his cause with the disposer of all events, and would not therefore take away the ark. He now recalled all his sins; he walked barefoot, and wept as he went. Nathan's words returned in all their force: “I will stir up evil against thee in thine own house.” His grievous cruelty to Uriah, and the excess of lenity to both his wicked sons, most afflicted his mind; and therefore, though he adopted prudent measures for the safety of his friends, he seemed almost indifferent what the Lord should do with him. Here piety shone forth as the gold melted and refined in the furnace; for affliction makes manifest the thoughts of the heart.
David had scarcely thus commended his cause to God, before a new wound was inflicted, and a wound in the tenderest part. Ahithophel, his friend and counsellor, he was told, had joined the conspirators; and more is often to be feared from wisdom than from might. But Hushai, another counsellor, presenting himself, David thought proper to employ counsel against counsel. The case being altogether out of the common way, we must be slow to blame the conduct of the king; for God availed himself of Hushai to gain time for David, and undo the rebels. Let us therefore learn to trust in David's God. If he brings us into straits and difficulties, he will also, in one way or other, bring us out again: and if he shorten our lives by a series of calamities, it shall be for our greater sanctification and eternal glory.