And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counsellor, from his city, from Giloh, while he offered the sacrifices. And the conspiracy gathered strength; and the people increased continually with Absalom.
Absalom's rebellion breaks into the open at Hebron. While he offers the sacrifices, he sends for Ahithophel, his father's own trusted adviser. Why is a revolt dressed in worship? And why does David's closest adviser join it?
The rebellion does not call itself godless. It borrows the language of worship, and one writer sees in that mixture the shape of an evil still to come.
Notice here how men profane the name of the LORD. That always goes together with the worst evil men do on the earth. One more feature appears here, needed to complete the character of the antichrist. It is kingly power in Israel joined with a false claim to spiritual authority. There will be religious claims of the highest kind. The antichrist is not simply an unbeliever. There will be unbelief, but a show of religion always comes with it. It may be in the same person, or in someone joined to him in the picture. The antichrist's true and full character needs something that brings in an evil spiritual power. That is why Ahithophel is linked with Absalom.
Another writer names what the worship was for, and why this one adviser mattered so much.
He makes a pretense of worshipping and serving the Lord, so that he can seize the kingdom and take the place of the Lord's anointed — his own father — on the throne. He allies himself with Ahithophel. In the eyes of the people this man had the standing a prophet would have had: "Now in those days the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God" (2 Sam. 16:23).
Why would a man of Ahithophel's rank abandon the king he had served? Writers trace the answer back to a family connection and an injury David himself had caused.
How was it that Absalom had the nerve to send for David's trusted counsellor? This was another sorrowful part of the harvest from an earlier sin. Ahithophel appears to have been Bathsheba's grandfather. We can well understand that he had never forgiven David for the way he had treated his granddaughter. (Compare 2 Sam. 11:3 and 2 Sam. 23:34.)
That reading turns the defection into something more than bad luck. It is the working out of God's government in David's own household and kingdom.
He had been David's counselor, and people listened to him, we are told, as if he spoke for God. Yet his name means "brother of folly." Such is always the worldly wisdom we find in him. Again we see how, in the government of God, David's sin is now following him. This is what dissolves kingdoms and breaks up every social bond. The man who has not accepted it by faith must learn it by bitter experience.
Ahithophel's gift was real. What he lacked ruined him.
Though he was David's companion and close friend, in the time of testing he fell away completely. He showed that, for all his shrewdness, his heart was not true to God's anointed. His wisdom was remarkable, but no amount of wisdom makes up for a lack of uprightness and true devotion. So in David's time of trouble, when the people were unfaithful and his cause looked weak, Ahithophel turned traitor like another Judas. Afterwards he hanged himself and died.
The Psalms carry the pain of such betrayal. One writer hears more than one voice in them.
The psalm is also the voice of David himself, in his own measure, as he suffered the craft and treachery of Ahithophel working with Absalom (see 2 Sam. 15, 16). John 13:21 shows us how deeply the Lord felt what Judas did, and so does this psalm, and Psalm 41 as well. But His relief was in prayer.
The verse ends by measuring the rebellion's success in numbers. One writer takes that as a warning for readers today.
How great are the crowds today who are merely followers of men! They never seriously weigh the principles of the truth of God. What suits their own comfort or convenience moves them instead. Often their choice is not only unwise. It ties them to outright wickedness against God, as it did with these followers of Absalom.
- Cover. Sacrifices at Hebron gave the revolt a religious face. The worst evil always comes with a show of religion beside it.
- Counsellor. Absalom sent for Ahithophel because his advice carried the weight of a prophet's word. That lent the revolt a borrowed authority.
- Cause. Ahithophel appears to have been Bathsheba's grandfather, and he never forgave David. David's sin was coming back on him under God's government.
- Character. Remarkable wisdom did not keep him loyal. He turned traitor like Judas, and he died by his own hand.
- Crowd. A growing crowd proves numbers, not truth. People still follow what is convenient instead of what is right.
And there came one to David who reported saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And David said to all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Rise up and let us flee; for we shall not [else] escape from Absalom. Be quick to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.
David has just learned that Israel's heart has turned to Absalom, and the man who once faced Goliath gives the order to run. Why does a king with an army give up his capital without a fight? And why does he fear for the city he leaves behind?
The rebellion did not fall on David out of nowhere. Commentators treat it as the start of a chastening he had already been warned about.
And now begins the heavy tale of David's woes, the fulfilment of the prophet's warning that the sword should never depart from his house.
Behind Absalom's success stood a higher hand.
It is painful to see the conqueror of Goliath driven from his home and his throne by his own beloved son. And this happened under God's hand. For if God had not allowed it, who could have driven God's chosen one from the royal seat in which the LORD had placed him? The sword was in his house; the word of God, sharper than a two-edged sword. How just is the LORD! But whom He loves He chastens.
David's order to flee looks like panic. Commentators see something else at work, and they link his haste to his fear for the city.
David flees in haste... This is not cowardice or weakness on his part: it is faith. Faith never follows the path that the natural man would choose. Who at this moment would not fight a growing conspiracy with an army trained to endure the hardships of war?... David flees, not because Absalom is stronger, but because he is God's rod raised to chasten His servant. But David does not think of himself alone. He is thinking of Jerusalem, the city of the LORD. He wants to spare it from the trial or ruin that his own resistance would surely bring on it.
Commentators differ in emphasis. Another writer links the flight to the damage David's sin had already done:
David has now to prove how his sin has thrown his kingdom into disorder... He soon finds that his only resource is flight. No doubt conscience robbed him also of his usual boldness. God is behind this, and resistance is useless: to bow is the only hope.
Further along the road a man curses the fleeing king, and one of David's officers offers to cut off his head. David refuses.
Then we shall not say with Abishai, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over, I pray you, and take off his head." Nor shall we, with Peter, draw the sword of natural excitement... Could David defend himself while God was dealing with his soul in a way so solemn and moving? Surely not. He dared not take himself out of the hands of the Lord. He was His, for life or death — as a king or an exile. Blessed subjection!
"Arise, and let us flee" is also a test. Everyone around David must now choose a side, and the choice shows what they valued in him.
When we see a loving band of followers crowding round the weeping, barefoot David, our hearts are far more deeply touched than when we see them crowding round his throne. We are more sure that his person, and not his office, was the centre of attraction. David had nothing to offer his followers now except fellowship in his rejection. Yet there was a charm about him, to those who knew his person, that bound them to him at all times. They could weep with him, as well as conquer with him.
David walks out of his own city as a rejected king. One writer looks past his sorrow to a greater one:
Sad as the scene was, it was only a faint picture in type. It pointed to the far more sorrowful rejection of the Son of God, the Son of David.
What looked like a defeat became a gathering point:
Rejected by Israel, He has become the centre of attraction for nations. They were strangers to the promises. They had no right to the blessings of the people. Rejected, He has become the centre of all. His own follow Him with delight, because they find security nowhere else but in Him whom the world refused. They follow Him because they know that the time of His rejection will come to an end, and that those who have shared in His tribulations will certainly share in His glory.
- Cause — David's flight is not mere politics. It is the chastening his own sin brought on his house.
- Choice — He runs not because Absalom is stronger, but because Absalom is God's rod. Retreat here is faith, not fear.
- Care — He hurries to spare Jerusalem. He will lose a throne rather than see the city cut down for his sake.
- Company — The order to flee sifts the kingdom. Those who love the king himself, not his office, walk out with him and share his rejection.
- Consummation — David's rejection is only a faint sketch of a greater one. The Son of David, refused by His own, draws strangers to Himself and shares His glory with all who shared His trials.
And the king's servants said to the king, Behold, thy servants [will do] whatever my lord the king shall choose.
David has learned that Israel's heart has turned to Absalom, and he chooses to leave his capital rather than fight for it. His servants promise to obey whatever he decides, and the chapter asks who else will stay with a king who has nothing left to give.
The order they agreed to obey was to abandon the capital. That looked like surrender. One writer reads it as the harder road of trust, taken to spare Jerusalem rather than David himself:
David flees in haste as soon as he learns that the hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom. This is not cowardice or weakness on his part: it is faith. Faith never follows the path that the natural man would choose. At this moment, who would not fight a growing conspiracy with an army trained for the hardships of war?... David flees, not because Absalom is stronger, but because he is God's rod raised to chasten His servant. But David does not think of himself alone. He is thinking of Jerusalem, the city of the Lord. He wants to spare it from the trial or ruin that his own resistance would surely bring on it.
Absalom had drawn the crowd with looks and flattery. But that pull stopped at the men closest to David. The crisis showed where each man's heart already was:
Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. He came in by flatteries, and took David's place in their thoughts and affections... But his beauty and his flattery had no effect on those who were near the person of David. Then the messenger came and said, "The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom." Now it was clear who were for David.
There is a reason this scene moves readers more than a throne scene does. Watch what still holds these men once the rewards are gone:
David's grace shines out more during this conspiracy than at any period of his life. And not only does David's grace appear in a striking light, but the genuine devotion of his dear people also. Picture a loving band of followers crowding round David as he weeps and walks barefoot. That touches our hearts far more deeply than seeing them crowd round his throne. We are more thoroughly convinced that his person, and not his office, was the centre of attraction. David had nothing to offer his followers now except fellowship in his rejection... They could weep with him, as well as conquer with him.
The servants speak up in front of a city that is changing sides. Open loyalty is where the pressure falls, then and now:
It is during this period of David's history that hearts are shown for what they are. Under the rule of the throne it is a question of submission rather than of love. But a rejected Christ attracts devotion. In these circumstances we can see whether His followers are truly attached to Him... They tied their fate to the king's. They were not afraid to risk themselves by openly declaring their loyalty to him. Oh! this fear of endangering oneself!... What: you do not dare confess your Savior's name before men? Does the world's opinion have such a great influence over you then?
The promise leaves the choice of task with David. Within a few verses he takes them at their word. He sends some men back into Jerusalem instead of keeping them at his side. The same writer draws out what that means for a servant's own preferences:
Shows of devotion are not enough, however dear they may be to the master's heart. They are only the prelude to service. So it is for us Christians. Like Hushai and the priests, we do not get to choose the place or the manner of our service to the Lord. He will decide this.
"Whatever" is a wide word, and the chapters that follow fill it with very different jobs. One writer finds three kinds of servant across David's exile. He reads them as a picture of differing gifts and offices:
In 2 Samuel 15, 17 and 19 we find three classes of servants. Each one gave David intelligent and acceptable service in the day of his rejection. Each one illustrates the New Testament truths that "all members have not the same office," and that "there are gifts differing according to the grace given to each."
- Rod. David flees not because Absalom is stronger. Absalom is God's rod of chastening, and David spares the city instead of defending himself.
- Reveal. A throne commands submission; rejection attracts love. The crisis showed who was for David.
- Person. These men were bound to David himself, not his office — he had nothing left to offer but a share in his rejection.
- Readiness. "Whatever my lord the king decides" hands over the choice of place and manner of service to the master.
- Range. One loyalty produced different services in chapters 15, 17 and 19. Not every member has the same office.
And the king went forth, and all his household after him, and the king left ten women, concubines, to keep the house.
Absalom's rebellion has reached the capital, and David gives it up without a fight. Why would a seasoned warrior walk away from his own city, and what becomes of the house he leaves behind?
One writer marks the indignity of it, and where the blow came from.
David must now flee. It is sad and humiliating to see him come down from the throne... After such honour and high position, he retreats from Jerusalem before the wave of rebellion stirred up by his own son. Here it is the loss of Jerusalem, the Mount Zion that he loved, his position and everything.
David was not outmatched. His reason for leaving lies somewhere else.
David flees as soon as he learns that the hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom. This is not cowardice or weakness on his part: it is faith. Faith never follows the path the natural man would choose... David flees, not because Absalom is stronger, but because Absalom is God's rod raised to chasten His servant. But David does not think of himself alone. He is thinking of Jerusalem, the city of the Lord. He wants to spare it from the ruin that resistance on his part would surely bring.
Earlier, God had told David what his sin would cost him, and what it would not.
Our sin always gives the form of our chastening. "I will raise up evil against you out of your own house, and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbour." ... "You did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun." ... "The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die."
The house David left in their care became the stage for the public shame.
Absalom accepted his counsel, and a tent was spread on the roof of the house. That was the very place where David's sin with Bathsheba began. There everyone knew that Absalom was sleeping with David's concubines. What a reminder this is of God's words to David: everyone would see the results of his sin.
The people who followed him changed the look of the retreat.
This hasty flight is so calm that it looks like a royal procession rather than a defeat. This is because the flight is ruled by the deep sense of being with God in the trouble... Behind him walk his household and all the people who have remained faithful to him. At his sides are his servants. Before him are his warriors... Absalom's companions may consider this march a rout for David. The Cherethites, the Pelethites and the Gittites view it as a supreme honour. Notice this: at the very moment when his people's rebellion makes the true king of Israel a stranger and a fugitive, foreigners are set in the place of honour. The Cherethites and the Pelethites were Philistine tribes; the Gittites, people of Gath, had left that Philistine city and their own land to join their lot to David's.
Who left with him and who stayed behind showed what each person loved.
King David was betrayed, dishonoured and turned out of Jerusalem. Those who were loyal to him and loved him went with him across Kidron and up the bleak mountain side. They preferred the king to the palace — wherever he was, was their palace. But then, as now, there were plenty who served whatever power was in place. They stayed behind, preferring the palace to the king, ready to welcome anyone who seized the throne, as long as he let them keep their places.
One writer takes the whole scene as a picture of Christ.
Rejected by Israel, He has become the centre of attraction for nations who were strangers to the promises... Rejected, He has become the centre of all. His own follow Him with delight, because they find security nowhere else but in Him whom the world refused. They also know that the time of His rejection will end, and that those who have shared His sufferings will certainly share His glory.
- Cause — God had put his sin away, yet the chastening still took the shape of the sin. What David did in secret, God brought out before all Israel.
- Choice — He fled by faith, not by weakness. He would not fight, and so spared the city the ruin a fight would bring.
- Cost — The ten women left to keep the house became the very platform of the shame God had foretold.
- Company — Those who walked out behind him preferred the king to the palace. Those who stayed preferred the palace to the king.
- Christ — The rejected king outside the city is the picture. His own still follow Him out, and those who share His rejection will share His glory.
And the king went forth, and all the people after him, and stayed at the remote house.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men that came after him from Gath, passed over before the king.
David is fleeing Jerusalem. He stops, and his people march past him, so that everyone can see who is still with him. The list is surprising: the men closest to the rejected king are foreigners, and the largest group came from a Philistine city.
The verse marks two positions: some pass beside the king, others go on ahead of him. The order is deliberate.
This hurried flight is still so calm that it looks like a royal procession rather than a defeat. The reason is the deep sense of being with God in trouble. Behind him walk his household and all the people who have stayed faithful to him. At his sides are his servants. Before him are his warriors. Absalom's companions may see this march as a rout for David. The Cherethites, the Pelethites, and the Gittites see it as the highest honour.
The first two groups in the verse had a fixed job in David's service.
Body-guard of David and officers sent to do service. They were faithful to David at the revolt of Absalom.
The six hundred are named by the town they came from, and that town has a history with David.
The name given to the six hundred men who lived in Gath, and to their leader Ittai, who followed David at Absalom's revolt. Goliath also was a Gittite.
Israel had gone over to Absalom.
Notice this. His own people rebel, and the true king of Israel becomes a stranger and a fugitive. At that very moment strangers are set in the place of honour. The Cherethites and the Pelethites were Philistine tribes. They came, it is said, from Crete. The Gittites, the people of Gath, left that Philistine city and their homeland to join their lot to David's. Their former king had lost his authority over them. The Lord's king had become the compass to guide them from that time on.
The same pattern reappears in Christ.
Israel rejected Him, and so He has become the centre of attraction for the nations. Those nations were strangers to the promises. They had no right to the blessings of the people. Rejected, He has become the centre of all. His own follow Him with delight, because they find security nowhere else but in Him whom the world refused. They follow because they know that the time of His rejection will end, and that those who have shared in His troubles will certainly share in His glory.
David has no capital, no throne and no reward to hand out now.
A loving band of followers crowds round the weeping, barefoot David. That touches our hearts far more than the sight of them crowding round his throne. It convinces us more fully that his person, and not his office, was the centre of attraction. David had nothing to offer his followers now except a share in his rejection. Yet there was a charm about him, for those who knew him, that bound them to him at all times.
Ittai leads the six hundred. His name explains why a former enemy is standing here.
David, it seems, has done more than destroy the Philistine giant: he has captured the men of the giant's city, and in the most striking way. But a gleam of light flashes on us with his name, Ittai, "with Jehovah." He once lived at a distance from God, a "child of wrath," and has now been brought near. No wonder such a man follows the One who won the victory in the conflict that the fight in Elah pictures. Pass on, Ittai, with your six hundred: who can doubt the faithful service you will give your master? Stranger and exile, we know where your heart is: you are fit to bear witness to a rejected king.
Every man walked past the king in full view.
It is during this period of David's history that hearts are shown for what they are. Under the rule of the throne, the question is submission rather than love. But a rejected Christ attracts devotion, and in these circumstances we can see whether His followers are truly attached to Him. They tied their fate to the king's. They were not afraid to risk danger by declaring openly that they were his.
- Rejection sifts. While the throne stands, loyalty costs nothing. Once the king is driven out, walking past him in the open shows who loves him.
- The person attracts. David could offer his followers nothing but a share in his rejection. For those who knew him, that was enough.
- Strangers advance. Cherethites, Pelethites and six hundred men from Gath left their own land for David. On the day Israel deserts, they lead the column.
- Distance becomes nearness. Ittai's name means "with Jehovah." He came from Goliath's city, and he is fit to witness for the king Israel threw out.
- Sharing ends in glory. Those who share in Christ's troubles will certainly share in His glory. His rejection has a time limit.
And the king said to Ittai the Gittite, Why dost thou also go with us? return to thy place, and abide with the king; for thou art a foreigner, and besides, thou hast emigrated to the place where thou [dwellest].
David is fleeing Jerusalem while his son Absalom seizes the throne. As his men file past, he stops one foreign recruit and tells him to go back, which raises the question of the whole chapter: who stays with a king when staying costs everything?
Ittai was a Philistine from Gath, and he held a command among David's own guard. One summary of his life carries it into a future day:
A Philistine of Gath, head of a portion of David's guard. He was faithful to David at the revolt of Absalom, returned with the king, and had a command in his army. 2 Sam. 15:19-22; 2 Sam. 18:2, 5, 12. He shows how Gentiles will share with the remnant of Israel in both the sufferings and the reign of their Messiah, and will serve Him in a future day.
David is not pushing Ittai away. He is testing him, and he tells him plainly what following him now means:
Ittai the Gittite (2 Sam. 15:20) is a stranger and an exile, and his heart is attracted to the person of David. David tests the professed devotion of his servant. He puts his own portion before him as the portion of his followers, warning him that the only prospect ahead of him is to be an outcast and a wanderer in this scene. In spirit he says, "The world hates me and it will also hate you." How beautifully this test brings out the depth of Ittai's devotion... In practice he put his life in his hands, and this self-denial is the first great requirement of a true servant.
David gives Ittai every reason to walk away, and then blesses him as he goes:
Everything gave him an excuse not to throw in his lot with David. He was a stranger, an immigrant who had not yet gained the right of citizenship in Israel. He had come only yesterday... David himself did not expect from Ittai the effort it would take to follow him. "Go back," David tells him, "and take your brothers with you, and may the LORD show steadfast love and faithfulness to you!" He even blesses him, to make him see that in such circumstances a lack of decision would in no way be held against him as evil. But this stranger shows great faith. To have great faith you do not need great intelligence or a long Christian life. It is enough to have a high estimation of the Lord.
David counts Ittai's newness as a reason to excuse him. The pattern often runs the other way round:
In this present day of grace it is sometimes refreshing to see cases like Ittai's. Some have held an outwardly near position in the testimony of God for some years. Then, when troubles came, they gave up any such testimony. Others have come in only lately, with fresh, vital affection toward the Lord. Difficulties do not move them. They prove their steadfast devotion by continuing with the Lord with all their heart.
Ittai must choose between two kings: the one taking the throne and the one leaving the city. The same choice reaches us:
Where do we stand in our loyalty to a rejected Christ? His rights for the moment have been taken over... Satan has many devices which he can use to divert believers from full commitment to the Lord. Further, the religious profession around us is largely marked by deadness and lack of response to the love of Christ. One meaning of Ittai's name is "living," and in the power of living affections he was ready to throw in his lot with David in his rejection.
Ittai turned down a safe way out and asked for nothing in exchange. The end of the story gives him what he never sought:
The motive that governed Ittai was devotion to David. He does not appear to have been seeking any reward. Indeed, he was ready to die with the king. But in 2 Samuel 18 we find David restored to the throne. Verse 5 of that chapter shows how much David valued his devotion. A third part of the people is put under his control.
Ittai's hope points to what Jesus promises anyone who serves Him:
What Ittai desired is what Jesus promises to us: "If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him" (John 12:26)... If we have served Him in His humiliation, then we may be sure that the Father will give us a place of honour, because we were not afraid of sharing His shame before the world.
- Stranger. Ittai was a Philistine from Gath with no right of citizenship — his heart drawn to David himself.
- Tested. David's question sets out his own portion as the portion of anyone who follows: an outcast and a wanderer.
- Freed. David offers him every excuse and a blessing, so that turning back would not have been counted against him.
- Chosen. Great faith needs no long history. A man who came only yesterday outlasted those with years of standing.
- Crowned. He sought no reward and was ready to die; the restored king gave him a third of the people to command, and the Father honours all who follow His Son in His rejection.
Thou didst come yesterday, and should I this day make thee go up and down with us, seeing I go whither I can? Return and take back thy brethren. Mercy and truth be with thee!
David is fleeing Jerusalem, barefoot and weeping, because his son Absalom has seized the throne. At the edge of the city he turns to a foreign soldier and argues him out of following, since there is nothing left to gain.
David can no longer reward anyone who stays with him.
This is a deeply touching scene. David's grace shines out more during this conspiracy than at any period of his life. It is not only his grace that appears here, but the genuine devotion of his dear people too. When we see a loving band of followers crowding round the weeping, barefoot David, our hearts are far more deeply touched than when we see them crowding round his throne. We are more fully convinced that his person, and not his office, was what drew them. David had nothing to offer his followers now except fellowship in his rejection. Yet there was a charm about him, for those who knew his person, that bound them to him at all times.
David's reason comes from Ittai's own position in Israel.
Every factor combined to excuse him from throwing in his lot with David's. He was a stranger, an immigrant who had not yet gained the rights of a citizen in Israel. He had come only yesterday. Morally he was like a small child trying his first steps. David himself did not expect from Ittai the effort it would take to follow him.
The verse ends with a blessing: "may the LORD show steadfast love and faithfulness to you." Older translations read "mercy and truth." That blessing is a release, not a rebuke.
"Go back," David tells him, "and take your brothers with you. Mercy and truth be with you!" He even blesses him, to make him realise that in such circumstances no one would hold a lack of decision against him as wrong. But this stranger shows great faith. To have great faith you do not need great intelligence or a long Christian life. It is enough to value the Lord highly. It is enough to know that nothing can equal Him or compare with Him, and that He alone can fully satisfy every need.
David promised only wandering, with no fixed destination. Commentators differ on what he was doing: one reads a real dismissal, another a deliberate test.
Ittai the Gittite, a stranger and an exile, has his heart drawn to the person of David. David tests his servant's professed devotion. He sets before him his own portion as the portion of all who follow him. He warns him that being an outcast and a wanderer in this scene is the only prospect ahead. In effect he says, "The world hates me and it will hate you too."
David treats Ittai's short history with him as a reason to excuse him. One writer sees the same thing happening today.
In this present day of grace it is sometimes refreshing to see cases like Ittai's. Some have held an outwardly close position in the testimony of God for years, and then, when trouble came, they gave up that testimony. Others have newly come in with fresh, living affection for the Lord. They are not shaken by the difficulties, but prove their steady devotion by continuing wholeheartedly with the Lord.
Ittai replied that wherever the king was, in death or in life, there his servant would be.
It is not a question of, Is this right, or is that right? but, Where is my Lord the King? His place decides my place. What is His place in relation to this world? Rejection! Then that is my place in the world. Where is He with regard to the Father's glory? In acceptance! Then that is my place too. Death comes first in Ittai's committal; I cannot enjoy the one unless I accept the other.
David told him to take his people back. Ittai took them forward instead.
Not only did Ittai go over, he took his companions with him and also the little ones. Let us see to it that we not only go that way ourselves, but are ready to take our little ones with us. Why set out on that path ourselves, and yet leave our little ones behind? Why even push them into the world that has cast Christ out?
- Person, not position. David had nothing left to give but a share in his rejection. The loyalty he still received proves it was the man, not the throne, that held people.
- Excused, not obliged. David released Ittai with a blessing, so turning back would not have counted against him. The door out was open.
- Yesterday is enough. Great faith does not need a long history; it needs a high estimate of the one it follows.
- Death before life. Ittai named death first. You cannot enjoy the glory unless you accept the rejection.
- Bring the little ones. Ittai crossed over with his men and his children. Real devotion does not leave the next generation behind.
And Ittai answered the king and said, [As] Jehovah 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.
David is fleeing Jerusalem, driven out by his own son Absalom. On the way he turns to Ittai, a foreigner who had joined him, and tells him to go home. Ittai's answer raises one question: what binds a person to a king who has nothing left to give?
David at this moment had nothing left to give the people who followed him. One writer compares this crowd with the crowd that once surrounded his throne.
This is a deeply touching scene. Here we see a loving band of followers crowding round the weeping, barefooted David. Our hearts are touched far more deeply than when we see them crowding round his throne. We are more thoroughly convinced that his person, and not his office, was the centre of attraction. David had nothing to offer his followers now except fellowship in his rejection. Yet there was a charm about him, for those who knew his person, that bound them to him at all times.
Everything about Ittai's position gave him an honest excuse to turn back.
Every factor combined to excuse him from casting his lot in with David's. He was a stranger, an immigrant who had not yet gained the right of citizenship in Israel, one who came only yesterday. In spiritual growth he was like a little child taking his first steps... But this stranger gives evidence of great faith. To have great faith you do not need great intelligence or a long Christian life. It is enough to have a high estimation of the Lord. It is enough to know that nothing can equal Him or compare with Him, and that He alone can completely satisfy every need.
Ittai does not say "life or death." He names death first.
When David offers him the chance to turn back and stop following, we hear his words of true committal... Notice that he puts death first. His devotion to David was such that even death itself would not stop him from following his rejected king completely.
Ittai's oath weighs no consequences. It asks one question: where will the king be?
It is not a question of, Is this right, or is that right? but, Where is my Lord the King? His place determines my place. What is His place in relation to this world? Rejection! Then that is my place in the world. Where is He in regard to the Father's glory? In acceptance! Then that is my place also. Death comes first in Ittai's committal; I cannot enjoy the one unless I accept the other.
Another writer hears in Ittai's words the very thing Jesus later promised to anyone who serves Him.
What Ittai desired is what Jesus promises to us: "If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him" (John 12:26). The Lord tells us: in death, perhaps, but certainly in glory. In serving Him we are assured of the glory, because that is where He is forever. Note again that the Father's heart is satisfied with devotion to His Son. If we have served Him in His humiliation, we may be sure that the Father will give us a place of honor, because we have not been afraid of sharing His shame before the world.
One writer sees the same contrast repeat among believers today.
In this present day of grace it is sometimes refreshing to witness cases similar to that of Ittai. Some have held an outwardly close position in the testimony of God for years. Then troubles came, and they gave up any such testimony. Others have come in only lately, with fresh, living affection toward the Lord. Difficulties do not move them. They prove their steadfast devotion by continuing with the Lord with all their heart.
Ittai had left his own city and home behind. His choice also decided where his family went.
He was an exile from the city, an exile from his home, but the company of David made up for them both... Are we prepared to die with Christ so that we may live with Him?... Not only did Ittai go over, he took his associates with him and also the little ones. Let us see to it that we not only go that way ourselves, but are prepared to take our little ones with us.
- Person — David had nothing left to share but rejection. Those who stayed came for the man himself, not for his office.
- Stranger — Ittai had arrived only yesterday. Great faith needs no long history, only a high estimate of the one it follows.
- Death first — Ittai names death before life. Devotion that has settled the worst outcome has nothing left to fear.
- Place — the servant asks only where his king is. Rejection now, glory later, and the Father honors those who shared His Son's shame.
- Household — Ittai went over with all his men and all the little ones. Loyalty that costs something takes the family along instead of leaving them behind.
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.
David is leaving Jerusalem with the throne in his son Absalom's hands, and at the edge of the city he tries to send a foreign soldier home. Ittai refuses, so David tells him to cross over — and this foreigner leaves the city with his men and his little children, following a rejected king.
David does not thank Ittai, argue with him, or praise him. He only tells him to pass on; the quotes below use the older wording, "Go and pass over." One writer reads the silence as the mark of a man too moved to speak.
What must that reply of Ittai's have meant to David's heart at that moment? His reply is so short: "Go and pass over." Not one word of thanks or praise. Why was this? I think David's heart was too full for words at that moment; and Ittai understood. There are times when heart enters into heart so closely that words are not needed — indeed they only jar, and are out of place.
Ittai was a foreigner and a recent arrival. David himself had offered him a way out, with a blessing attached.
Every factor combined to excuse him from casting his lot in with David's. He was a stranger, an immigrant who had not yet acquired the right of citizenship in Israel, one come only yesterday… David even blesses him, to make him realise that in such circumstances a lack of decision would in no way be counted against him as evil. But this stranger gives evidence of great faith. To have great faith there is no need of great intelligence, nor of a long Christian life. It is enough to have a high estimation of the Lord.
Ittai had been with David barely a day, and he stayed. One writer sees the same thing happening today.
In this present day of grace it is sometimes refreshing to witness cases similar to that of Ittai. Some have held an outwardly near position in the testimony of God for some years. Yet when troubles came, they gave up any such testimony. Others have only just come in, with fresh, living affection toward the Lord. Difficulties do not move them. They prove their steadfast devotion by continuing with the Lord with all their heart. David therefore welcomes the help of Ittai and his men (v. 22).
The verse names two groups that crossed with Ittai: his men and the little ones. He left nobody behind.
We read that this man went over with David, and with him went "all his men, and all the little ones that were with him"… Ittai did not go over alone. He took his companions with him, and the little ones too. Let us see to it that we not only go that way ourselves, but are prepared to take our little ones with us. Why set out on that pathway ourselves, and yet leave our little ones behind? Why push them into the world that has cast Christ out?
That night the children lost their beds and their home. One writer imagines what they were told instead.
And so "Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him." And that night when the little ones' bedtime came, there were no warm cosy beds; but on and on they walked, down those steep, wild hills… I can hear those little ones: "Daddy, where are we going? Why did we leave our house, Daddy?" And Ittai answers: "We are following the King!" That is enough, and I venture to say the hearts of those little ones are riveted to their King with bonds of love that never can be broken.
Crossing the brook left Ittai with the enemy behind him and bare desert ahead. One writer weighs that against what he still had.
"Go and pass over!" the king tells Ittai. So he goes over the brook Kidron, turning his back on the triumphant enemy, with the desert path before him (v. 23). What does it matter? David is his shepherd; he will lack nothing.
Ittai asked for nothing and expected to die. The later chapters record what David did with him.
What governed Ittai was devotion to David. He does not appear to have sought any reward. Indeed, he was ready to die with the king. But in 2 Samuel 18 we find David restored to the throne. Verse 5 of that chapter shows how David valued his devotion: he put a third part of the people under Ittai's control.
One writer hears Ittai's choice in a promise Jesus makes to His servants.
What Ittai wanted is what Jesus promises us: "If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him" (John 12:26)… If we have served Him in His humiliation, we may be sure the Father will give us a place of honour, because we were not afraid to share His shame before the world.
- Attracted. Ittai's loyalty was not owed. He was a foreigner who had not yet earned the right of citizenship. The king had won his heart.
- Excused. David released him and blessed him. Staying behind would not have counted against him — which is why going over counted for so much.
- Crossed. He turned his back on the winning side and took the wilderness road. The king himself was enough.
- Accompanied. His men and the little ones crossed with him. Take the children onto the path you choose; do not leave them in the city behind.
- Rewarded. He sought nothing and was ready to die. The restored king put a third of the people under his command, and the Father honours all who share His Son's shame.
And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over; the king also himself passed over the torrent Kidron, and all the people passed over, towards the way of the wilderness.
David is fleeing Jerusalem, driven from his throne by his son Absalom, and the whole land weeps as the king wades the ravine east of the city. Two questions follow: why did God allow this, and why did Jesus cross the same brook on the night He was betrayed?
The rebellion did not happen behind God's back. One writer says no power on earth could have unseated David unless God allowed it.
It is painful to see the conqueror of Goliath driven from his home and his throne by his beloved son. And all this was under God's hand. If God had not allowed it, who could have driven God's chosen king from the throne where the LORD had placed him? The sword was in his house; the word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword. How just the LORD is! But He disciplines those He loves.
Crowds change fast. One writer sees God at work behind the change.
Today's idol may become the object of popular hatred tomorrow. The man who has served his people may find himself a wanderer in the very country he once ruled... God was now punishing David for the sins that gave the enemies of the Lord an occasion to blaspheme. At the same time He was testing whether all the children of Israel would stay loyal and faithful to His anointed. And with what result? The king had fled from Jerusalem... and the people of Israel showed what they were as they gathered round Absalom.
One commentator reads the scene as dignity, not collapse.
This hurried flight is still so calm that it looks like a royal procession, not a defeat. One deep sense rules it: in this trouble, one is with God... Absalom's friends may call this march a defeat for David. The Cherethites, the Pelethites, and the Gittites see it as the highest honour. Now notice this. His people rebel, and the true king of Israel becomes a stranger and a fugitive. At that very moment strangers take the place of honour. The Cherethites and the Pelethites were Philistine tribes, said to have come from Crete. The Gittites — people of Gath — left that Philistine city and the land of their birth to join their lot with David's. Their former king had lost his authority over them. The Lord's king had become the compass that would guide them from that time on.
What held David's followers, one writer argues, was the man himself, not what he could still give them.
A loving band of followers crowds round the weeping, barefoot David. That touches our hearts far more than seeing them crowd round his throne. We are far more sure that his person, and not his office, was the centre of attraction. David had nothing to offer his followers now except a share in his rejection. Yet for those who knew him, there was a charm about him that bound them to him at all times. They could weep with him, as well as conquer with him.
The place David crossed had a grim history.
The valley, or wide dry riverbed, that lies between the east of Jerusalem and the west of Mount Olivet... Though called a brook, it is now nearly always dry... In Old Testament times people treated it as a defiled place. Asa burned his mother's idol there. Josiah burned the symbols of idolatry there too.
A dictionary of Bible names gives the word itself a fitting sense: "Kidron — the mourner: the black one" (J. B. Jackson).
Jesus crossed the same brook on the night of His betrayal (John 18:1). One writer sets the two crossings side by side.
Jesus and David, each in rejection, found it a road of sorrow indeed! The outward path here was the same, but there the resemblance ended.
The difference is one of scale.
For a time David had to give up his throne, and many of his people turned against him. But the nation rejected the Son of God, and so did the world and the leaders of Israel who claimed to be the servants of God. One of His disciples was about to betray Him. All would leave Him... He would be crucified and killed, suffering death at the hands of His God as the judgment of sin.
- Crossing as chastening. The flight is God's discipline on David's own house, not an accident of politics. God disciplines those He loves.
- Crossing as test. The same event sifted the nation. It showed who stayed loyal to God's anointed king once loyalty had a cost.
- Crossing as honour. Foreigners who had left their own king marched in the place of honour the moment the rightful king became a fugitive.
- Crossing as love. With no throne left to offer, David still drew followers; his person, not his office, was the attraction.
- Crossing as shadow. Jesus walked the same ravine on the night of His betrayal. The path was the same; the sorrow was not.
And behold, Zadok also, and all the Levites 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 passed completely out of the city.
David is fleeing his own capital, and the crowd streams out toward the wilderness. The priests and Levites follow with the ark of the covenant, the sign of God's presence in Israel — and David sends it straight back.
Absalom's conspiracy had swept the nation, and most of Israel went with him. Against that tide, Zadok and the Levites carried the ark out of the city after the rejected king.
David learns that Absalom has won over most of the people: "The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom" (2 Sam. 15:13). The king and his faithful followers left Jerusalem and crossed the brook Kidron "toward the wilderness" (v. 23). It was a time of decision. The current of the day was in Absalom's favour — but Zadok was one of those who swam against the current.
David would not take the ark into exile with him. He saw the blow as God's own discipline, and he would not move the ark out of Jerusalem to suit his need.
Zadok and Abiathar the priests and all the Levites with them had also come, bearing the ark of God. But David realized that he had no right to have the ark accompany him. He knew he was under the chastening hand of God, and he should bow to it. He should not give the people the impression that the ark must leave its proper place in Jerusalem just because David was in exile. He tells Zadok and Abiathar to go back with the ark, and to keep their two sons with them, to send David any useful news.
Israel had once handled the ark very differently. David, at the lowest point of his life, would not use it to save himself.
In their panic before the Philistines, the people and priests brought out the ark of God. They hoped it might work as a charm against their enemies' swords. But here David refuses to use it selfishly and without reverence, whatever his need and danger. He was a man of living faith in God, and of real reverence for the sign of His presence in Israel, if ever there was one. No one ever valued the ark of God as king David did, and he valued it in faith. Yet in this supreme hour of his deepest extremity and greatest humiliation he refuses to put the ark of God at risk. He will not allow the smallest shadow to fall on it for his own sake. David tells the sons of Zadok and the Levites to carry it back to the city, where it is destined to rest for ever, once the Lord Jesus establishes it.
Commentators read the priests' act in different ways. One writer calls their thought right in itself, but short of God's present dealings with David.
Zadok and Abiathar are not wrong in thinking that the ark ought to be with the king. They have a general understanding of God's mind, but they take less account of His ways with David. David himself teaches them this by sending them back. He must count on God alone to bring him back, for he has deserved this discipline. Even if God rejected him completely, David submits, for all that God does is good.
Zadok and Abiathar stand side by side in this verse, both carrying the ark, both loyal. Years later one of them backed a second rebel son, Adonijah.
Zadok carried the ark before David together with Abiathar, and like Abiathar he was faithful to David in Absalom's uprising. He stayed with David and with Solomon, and he was established in the priesthood. Abiathar should have known that, if it was wrong to follow Absalom, it was also wrong to follow his brother Adonijah. It is not enough for us to be faithful in one crisis: we ought to be faithful in every crisis — yes, at all times and in all things.
- Decision — The nation's heart had gone after Absalom. Zadok carried the ark out with the rejected king and swam against the current of the day.
- Restraint — David refused what loyalty offered him. He knew the blow was chastening from God's hand, and he bowed to it instead of escaping it.
- Reverence — A panicking crowd once dragged the ark into battle as a charm. The man who valued it most would not risk it for his own advantage.
- Correction — The priests' thought was not wrong in general. They knew God's mind, but took less account of His ways with David, and the king taught them by sending them back.
- Endurance — Both priests passed this test; only one passed the next. Faithfulness in a single crisis is not the measure — faithfulness at all times is.
And the king said to Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city. If I shall find favour in the eyes of Jehovah, he will bring me again, and shew me it, and its habitation.
Absalom has seized the throne, and David has fled Jerusalem with the ark of God carried out behind him. The king sends it back — why refuse the sign of God's presence when you need it most?
David knows why this is happening. The rebellion is God's hand on him, and he will not pretend otherwise.
David realised that he had no right to have the ark accompany him. He knew he was under the chastening hand of God. He should bow to this. He should not give the people the impression that the ark had to leave its proper place in Jerusalem just because David was in exile.
The same writer notes that David still acted wisely. He told the priests to keep their two sons with them and send him any useful news (verses 27–28).
One commentator sets David's choice beside an earlier moment in Israel's history.
The people and priests panicked before the Philistines. They brought out the ark of God, hoping it might serve as a charm against the swords of their enemies. But here David refuses to use it selfishly and irreverently, whatever his need and danger... In this supreme hour of his deepest extremity and greatest humiliation he refuses to put the ark of God at risk. For his own sake, he will not let the smallest shadow fall on it.
One writer adds that David would not let any harm come to the ark. He sees in this "how completely the heart of David had been restored" (An Outline of Sound Words).
Sending the ark away cost David something. One commentator explains the reasoning of a man whose own conscience is against him.
In the same spirit he sends back the ark and its priests, as having a joy for him that it was not fitting for him now to taste. The ark, the presence of God, was David's best joy; but he was not entitled to have it now, and so he sends it home.
The same writer notes why David sent his friend Ittai away too. David alone, he says, "had sinned and drawn out the hand of the Lord."
David's sentence has two halves that most of us keep apart. He deserves what is happening, and he still expects mercy.
What an admirable result of the work of God's Spirit on a heart exercised by discipline. What perfect submission to God's will, knowing that one deserves judgment! What perfect confidence in His goodness that endures forever, and in His interest in His own even though they are unworthy of it! Everything that happens to him is righteous. But David counts on grace. He accepts this humiliation and leaves it to God to justify him.
Another writer names the claim David refuses to make. He would not "claim the token of a favour which had in fact departed" (F. W. Grant).
Owning the right object is not the same as being right with God.
David recognised God's discipline — discipline only for good. He knew that merely possessing a symbol would not improve matters. What concerned him was his moral condition under God's eye. And he showed he had this by placing himself unreservedly in God's hands.
Yet David's hope reaches past the ark itself. He asks to see God's dwelling place again. One commentator notes that the city is where the ark is "destined to rest forever, once the Lord Jesus establishes it" (William Kelly).
- Chastening — David saw Absalom's revolt as God's hand on him for his own sin, and bowed to it instead of trying to escape it.
- Restraint — others once carried the ark into battle as a charm. David would not use the sign of God's presence to shield himself.
- Cost — the ark was his greatest joy. Real repentance gave up the comfort he had forfeited.
- Confidence — "If I find favor" is not despair. He admits he deserves judgment, yet counts on grace and leaves God to justify him.
- Reality — he did not want the symbol in his camp. He wanted God's house back, and asked to see "both it and His dwelling place."
But if he thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, [here am] I, let him do to me as seemeth good to him.
David has fled Jerusalem during his own son's revolt. The priests follow him out of the city, carrying the ark — the chest that marked God's presence with Israel. He sends it back. This verse gives his reason. He will not bargain with God over the outcome. If God has no pleasure in him, David will take whatever God decides.
The rebellion did not simply happen. One writer traces it to God's own hand on a man He loved.
It is painful to see the conqueror of Goliath driven from his home and his throne by his beloved son. And this happened under God's hand. For if God had not allowed it, who could have driven the man God had chosen from the royal seat where the Lord had placed him?... But He disciplines those He loves. So all this shows the righteous rule of God. For David it is also a deep searching of heart, and it brings him to know God more truly and more closely.
One writer sets David's refusal beside an earlier scene, when Israel had treated the ark as a good-luck charm.
The people and priests panicked before the Philistines. They brought out the ark of God, hoping it might work as a charm against their enemies' swords. But here David refuses to use it for himself, without reverence, whatever his need and danger... Still, in this hour of his deepest need and greatest humiliation, he refuses to put the ark of God at risk. He will not let the smallest shadow fall on it for his own sake.
Another writer adds what David did not want the people to think.
He knew he was under the chastening hand of God, and he should bow to it. He would not give the people the impression that the ark should leave its proper place in Jerusalem just because David was in exile.
For another writer, the reason lies further back, in David's own sin.
It is sin that has found him out, and has brought him into remembrance before God, and it is not for such a man to keep a holy day. He must bow his head and accept his punishment... The ark, the presence of God, was David's best joy; but he was not entitled to have it now, and so he sends it home.
One writer says the ark's travelling days were over. He then reads David's words as submission and confidence at once.
David refuses the ark; he cannot accept such an honour. The ark has entered into its rest and cannot start the wilderness wanderings again with David... What perfect submission to God's will, in a man who knows he deserves judgment! What perfect confidence in God's goodness, which lasts forever, and in His care for His own, unworthy though they are! Everything that happens to him is righteous. But David counts on grace. He accepts this humiliation and leaves it to God to justify him.
The same writer asks whether the two priests were wrong to bring the ark out at all.
Zadok and Abiathar are not wrong to think that the ark ought to be with the king. They understand God's mind in general, but they take less account of His ways with David. David himself teaches them this by sending them back. He must count on God alone to bring him back, for he has deserved this discipline. Even if God were to reject him completely, David submits, because all that God does is good.
One writer sets David's bowed head beside a deeper submission still.
He meekly bows his head to the dealing of God. He felt, no doubt, that he was only reaping the fruit of his sin, and he accepted it. He saw God in every circumstance... The Lord Jesus was living in the most profound subjection to the Father. "Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?" This gave Him power over anything. He looked beyond the instrument to God — beyond the cup to the hand which had filled it.
- Cause. The revolt was God's discipline on a man He loved. David took it from God's hand, not just from Absalom's.
- Refusal. He sent the ark back. He would not use the sign of God's presence as his own protection, or let any shadow fall on it.
- Confession. A man whose sin had found him out would not claim the joy he was no longer entitled to.
- Confidence. He deserved judgment, yet he counted on grace. He left it to God to bring him back and to justify him.
- Consequence. David saw God in every circumstance and bowed. Christ showed this perfectly, looking past the cup to the hand that filled it.
And the king said to Zadok the priest, Thou art the seer return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.
David is fleeing Jerusalem because his son Absalom has seized the throne. Priests carry the ark of God out after him, but David sends it back — and sends Zadok, the priest, back too, as his own man inside the city.
David had every reason to keep the ark near him. One writer weighs what his refusal shows.
Here David refuses to use the ark selfishly or without reverence, whatever his need and danger. If ever there was a man on earth in those days with living faith in God, it was David. He had real reverence for the sign of His presence in Israel. No one ever valued the ark of God as king David did, and he valued it in faith. Yet in this supreme hour of his deepest trouble and greatest humiliation he refuses to put the ark of God at risk. He will not let the smallest shadow fall on it for his own sake.
Behind the refusal is how David reads his own situation. God is disciplining him.
He does not want the ark to be associated with his failure and the resulting discipline (v. 25). At the same time, he shows his confidence in God. He bows under His hand: "If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and let me see both it and His dwelling place."
David does not address Zadok only as a priest. The title he uses points to a second role in the same man. (The older translation quoted below reads it as a statement, not a question.)
Another detail comes in the same verse: "You are the seer." Zadok was not only priest but also prophet. He approached God in priestly service. He also stood before God to receive His word, as a prophet. David relied on him to send a signal when, in good time, he would be able to return to Jerusalem.
One writer explains the difference between the two words.
The title "Prophet" referred to the same person as "Seer," and it replaced the older word. The seer is one who sees or discerns. The prophet is one who communicates what he discerned as from God.
Zadok does not walk out with the king. He walks back into the city with a job to do.
During the time of David's exile, at his request, Zadok remains in Jerusalem to act as the king's confidant (v. 27). This shows the confidence David had in him.
This plan unfolds two chapters later. It nearly failed.
When Absalom revolted, David had to flee from Jerusalem. Zadok stayed true to David and returned to the city. Ahimaaz and Jonathan son of Abiathar remained at En-rogel. Zadok sent word to them by a servant girl about the advice of Ahithophel and of Hushai, and they hurried to David with the news. But a boy saw what happened, and pursuers went after them. The spies reached a house in Bahurim, where they hid in a well with grain spread over the cover.
One writer separates the return of the ark from the spy network that follows.
So the ark returns, with the priests who serve it. David gains a lookout post in the city he has left. In this there was nothing but what agreed with truth and righteousness. The priests of the Most High owed no loyalty to the usurper who was willing to murder his own father. They did owe loyalty to the king God had set apart. But of the counterplots that follow, one must judge very differently.
The objection is to the reasoning David adopts once the reports start flowing back.
So David thinks conspiracy can justify conspiracy. In the war that has begun, he thinks deceit may rightly work against deceit. Evil with a good end will then become good — or at least we may do it so that good may come. David had acted on this principle himself, in the old days when he took refuge with the Philistines. Such things, if not judged, can easily revive after lying dormant.
Zadok's choice here was not a one-off. Later, at the end of David's life, another son grabbed at the throne, and the other priest backed him.
Abiathar should have known that if it was wrong to follow Absalom, it was also wrong to follow his brother Adonijah. It is not enough for us to be faithful in one crisis: we should be faithful in every crisis, yes, at all times and in all things.
- Ark — David sends it back. The sign of God's presence must not share the shame of his discipline.
- Seer — Zadok is more than a priest. He receives God's word, so David can trust him to send a signal.
- Confidant — being sent back is a mark of trust. Zadok becomes the king's man inside Absalom's Jerusalem.
- Sons — Ahimaaz and Jonathan carry the news out. They escape capture by hiding in a well at Bahurim.
- Endurance — Zadok stood firm under Absalom, and again when Adonijah grabbed the throne. Faithfulness in one crisis is not enough.
See, I will stop in the plains of the desert, until there come word from you to inform me.
David speaks these words just after sending the ark back to Jerusalem. He will wait, and leave his future to God. But he also sets up a line of information through the priests and their sons. Commentators read that arrangement in very different ways.
Zadok and Abiathar had carried the ark out of the city with the fleeing king. David would not take it with him.
By bringing the ark out to David, Zadok showed full allegiance to God's anointed. He wanted God's nearness and blessing to be with the king. But David refuses the offer. He does not want the ark linked with his failure and the discipline that followed (v. 25). At the same time, he expresses his trust in God and his submission under His hand. He says: "If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and let me see both it and His dwelling place."
Another writer walks through what David told the priests to do.
David knew he was under the chastening hand of God, and he should bow to it. He would not give the people the impression that the ark should leave its proper place in Jerusalem just because David was in exile. So he tells Zadok and Abiathar to return with the ark. God could restore David to Jerusalem if it was His will. If He did not, His will was still to be accepted. He also told them to keep their two sons with them and use them to send David any useful information (vv. 27–28).
Zadok did not go into exile with the king. He stayed in Jerusalem, and one writer explains why.
During the time of David's exile, at his request, Zadok remains in Jerusalem to act as the king's confidant (v. 27). This shows the confidence David had in him.
Commentators differ here. One writer draws a sharp line between the priests' return and what David does next.
So the ark returns, and the priests go back with it. David gains a lookout post in the city he has left. In this there was, of course, nothing but what was according to truth and righteousness. The priests of the Most High owed no allegiance to the usurper, a man willing to murder his own father. They did owe allegiance to the king God had set apart. But of the counterplots that follow one must judge very differently.
Another writer goes further. He asks whether David needed the spy at all.
But would David have been lost if Hushai had not acted as his spy? The Lord would not have forsaken the king, and though He used Hushai's counsel, yet David was the loser after all. He lost the opportunity of seeing the Lord's power and intervention on his behalf. And how much we also lose by want of faith in Him, with whom nothing is too hard.
Those two sons appear again in later years. One writer follows Jonathan through both his errands.
Once before (2 Sam. 17:17) Jonathan had left En-rogel with Ahimaaz, Zadok's son. He went at the risk of his life to warn David of what was happening against him… His service may be to David in the time of his rejection, or to the world in the day when the son of David triumphs. Jonathan remains the same faithful messenger.
One writer looks at the heart behind David's answer.
The ark has entered into its rest. It cannot begin the wilderness wanderings again with David. Here David once more takes the role of the repentant, suffering remnant… What an admirable result of God's Spirit working in a heart that discipline has shaped! What perfect submission to God's will, knowing that one deserves judgment! And what perfect confidence in His goodness, which lasts for ever!
- Discipline. David knows the revolt is God's chastening hand on him, so he bows to it instead of resisting it.
- Surrender. He sends the ark back instead of dragging God's dwelling place into exile. He leaves his return to God.
- Waiting. David stops at the fords. He waits there for word from the city.
- Word. Zadok stays in the city as David's trusted man. The two priests' sons carry news out to the waiting king.
- Question. Commentators differ about that link. Some say sending the priests back was plainly right. Others judge the counterplots that followed more harshly, and say David lost the chance to see God act for him.
And Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem; and they abode there.
The priests do what the king told them. The ark goes back up to Jerusalem, and David keeps walking into exile. The verse is short, but it settles two questions. Should God's presence leave the city with a king under discipline? And what should the men carrying the ark do now?
Zadok's instinct was loyal. David still turned him back — because of what the ark would then be linked to.
By bringing the ark out to David, Zadok showed full allegiance to God's anointed. He wanted God's nearness and blessing to be with the king. But David refuses the offer. He does not want the ark to be associated with his failure and the resulting discipline (v. 25).
David had once stayed home in Jerusalem while the ark went out to war. Now the pattern is reversed, and one writer reads that reversal as proof of a mended heart.
David is under the government of God, and no doubt he also knows His mercy. His chastened spirit shows itself in his attitude toward the ark. Whatever might happen to him, he would not let anything go wrong with the ark of God. So he instructs Zadok and Abiathar to take it back to the city. He had been willing before to let the ark go into the battlefield while he stayed in Jerusalem. Now God's governing hand is upon him, and he will not put the ark at risk. This shows how fully David's heart had been restored. David had failed in the matter of Uriah because he was not found with the ark of God. Even so, there is no doubt the ark had a very real place in his heart.
Israel had once dragged the ark onto a battlefield hoping the object itself would save them. David, in his own hour of danger, does the opposite.
How beautiful the contrast with an earlier scene, all too familiar! The people and priests, in their panic before the Philistines, brought out the ark of God in case it might work as a charm against their enemies' swords. But here David refuses to use it in a selfish, irreverent way, whatever his need and danger. He was a man with living faith in God and real reverence for the sign of His presence in Israel. No one ever valued the ark of God as king David did, and he valued it in faith. Yet in this supreme hour of his deepest trouble and greatest humiliation, he will not let the smallest shadow fall on the ark for his own sake. He tells Zadok's sons and the Levites to carry it back to the city, where it is destined to rest for ever, once the Lord Jesus establishes it.
The ark's journey through the wilderness was over. David would not restart it, and he leaves his own return to God.
The ark has entered into its rest and cannot begin the wilderness wanderings again with David… With such feelings David says to the priest: "If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me back and let me see both it and his dwelling place. But if he says, 'I have no pleasure in you,' behold, here I am, let him do to me what seems good to him." What an admirable result of the work of God's Spirit on a heart exercised by discipline. What perfect submission to God's will, knowing that one deserves judgment — what perfect confidence in His goodness that endures forever!
A right instinct can still miss what God is doing at the moment.
Zadok and Abiathar are not wrong in thinking that the ark ought to be with the king; they have a general understanding of God's mind but take less account of His ways with David. David himself teaches them this by sending them back.
Staying in the city was not retirement. It gave David a trusted man inside the city.
During David's exile, at his request, Zadok remains in Jerusalem to act as the king's confidant (v. 27). This shows the confidence David had in him.
That turns the whole episode into a lesson about who assigns a servant's post.
The king had sent Zadok, Abiathar, and Hushai back to Jerusalem to use them in his service. Shows of devotion are not enough, however dear they may be to the master's heart. They are only the prelude to service. So it is for us Christians. Like Hushai and the priests, we do not choose the place or the manner of our service to the Lord. He will decide this.
- Ark in its place. Its wandering days were over. David would not restart them, and he would not drag God's testimony into his own discipline.
- Symbol without a charm. No one valued the ark more than David — which is exactly why he would not use it as protection in his hour of danger.
- King in his place. Under God's hand he asks for nothing. If God favors him, He will bring him back; if not, let God do as He pleases.
- Priests in their place. The king's word corrected their loyal instinct. They knew God's mind in general, but not His present ways with David.
- Devotion becomes duty. Going back was not a demotion but an assignment; the servant does not pick the post, the master does.
But David went up by the ascent of the Olives, and wept 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.
David is fleeing Jerusalem, driven out by his own son Absalom. The road out of the city climbs the Mount of Olives, and the king climbs it in tears. Two questions follow: what do the bare feet and the covered head mean, and whose sorrow does this walk point to?
One writer reads David's appearance as a statement about his heart, not about the fight ahead.
In all of this David was no doubt showing a proper spirit of submission and faith. Verse 30 tells us that he showed signs of penitence: his head covered in humiliation and his feet bare. This was an admission of weakness and dependence before God, not preparation for battle.
Why this climb at all? One writer traces it back to David's own sin, and draws a line between God forgiving a man and God governing him.
David does not argue with the hand that is on him. William Kelly notes that the shame belonged not only to the rebel son and the fickle people, but to the king himself:
But for David it was a day of shame, not only for the people and his guilty son, but not without reason for himself personally; it was a day when he could not deny the righteous hand of God stretched out over him and his seed in correction of faults that were neither few nor light.
Measured by circumstances this is the saddest hour of David's life. Measured another way, one writer says, it is his highest.
What a sight! And yet, morally considered, David was now in the place of exaltation. He had humbled himself under the mighty hand of God. So whatever painful experiences he might still have to meet, God was sure to lift him up in due time. It is a blessed thing for all of us when we are in the lowest place before God, if we are in the confidence of His grace.
The people climbed weeping with him. What held them to a king with no throne?
A loving band of followers crowds round the weeping, barefooted David. This touches our hearts far more deeply than seeing them crowd round his throne. We are far more sure that his person, and not his office, was the centre of attraction. David had nothing to offer his followers now except fellowship in his rejection. Yet for those who knew him there was a charm about him that bound them to him at all times. They could weep with him as well as conquer with him.
A rejected king climbs the Mount of Olives in tears. One writer sees the same humiliation in a greater King on that same ground.
Christ endured and bore this humiliation towards the end of His course, in sympathy for His loved people... Here at Gethsemane the man who had eaten with Him lifted up his heel against Him, as Absalom had done, and betrayed Him with a kiss. Here too, in the anguish of His soul, He shed more than David's tears, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.
Commentators differ over how close the parallel runs. Kelly marks a limit:
It may remind us of a greater than he; but the One greater than David, though He knew tears as none ever did, did not then go up weeping.
David's covered head is not the last word. The prayer of Psalm 3 is tied to this flight, and the taunt he answers is that God has finally dropped him.
- Sown — the climb is the harvest of David's own sin. God forgives, and God still governs. Pardon does not cancel consequences.
- Shown — bare feet and a covered head are the signs of penitence. They admit weakness and dependence before God, not readiness for battle.
- Bowed — David humbles himself under the hand that is on him. The lowest place before God is the place of exaltation.
- Shared — with throne and city gone, his followers stay; they loved the man, not the office, so they weep with him as well as win with him.
- Lifted — David calls God the lifter of his head. On that same hill a greater King wept, and His sweat became like drops of blood.
And one told David saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. Then said David, Jehovah, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
David has fled Jerusalem, and on the road he learns that his most trusted adviser has joined Absalom's rebellion. He answers with no plan at all — only one sentence of prayer.
The news mattered because of the man's reputation. Ahithophel was not one voice among many. He was the sharpest mind in the kingdom.
A Gilonite, grandfather of Bathsheba, and a very wise counsellor of David. People said of him that all his counsel was "as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God." He joined in the rebellion of Absalom and advised him, among other things, to attack David at once. Absalom did not follow that advice. He preferred the advice of Hushai, who was acting for David. So Ahithophel returned to his house, set his household in order, and hanged himself. Writers have generally taken him as a picture of Judas in the New Testament: compare Psalm 41:9; Psalm 55:12.
This looks like the lowest moment of David's life. One writer reads it as his highest.
It is, perhaps, the saddest scene in all the king's eventful life. David went up the slope of the Mount of Olives weeping, with his head covered and his feet bare, and all the people with him covered their heads and wept as they climbed. What a spectacle! And yet, in moral terms, David was now in the place of exaltation. He had humbled himself under the mighty hand of God. So whatever painful experiences he still had to face, God would surely lift him up at the right time. It is a blessed thing for all of us to be brought as low as possible before God, as long as we rest in the confidence of His grace.
The report itself became the trigger for confidence rather than despair.
David turns to God. He knew how serious the news was. But this very thing reminded him of the source of his confidence, just as surely as he saw the hand of Satan in it. A father's love might hold back from pleading against Absalom; but David could now unburden his heart to God.
Notice what David does not pray against. He stays silent when a man named Shimei curses him. Ahithophel is a different case.
Though he was silent toward Shimei, David judges in his spirit that he is free to plead against Ahithophel. So he says, "O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness." And the Lord allows this desire, for He answers it by quickly overthrowing that evil counsellor.
David does not have to wait long for an answer.
God gives an immediate answer to His servant's prayer. Hushai, the king's intimate friend, rejoins him. David, filled with spiritual discernment, sends him back. He knows that God has destined Hushai to "defeat the counsel of Ahithophel."
Rossier reads the sending of Hushai as discernment. Others read it as David reaching for his own scheme instead of leaving the matter with God.
However, instead of leaving this matter entirely with God, David saw a chance when Hushai came to him. He could plant his own secret agent in Absalom's court... This was not faith on David's part, for he told Hushai to lie to Absalom in declaring that he would be Absalom's servant just as he had been David's servant. The matter did work out as David hoped. But if he had simply trusted God, he might have seen Him work in a more miraculous way.
David did not ask God to remove Ahithophel. He asked God to make his advice fall flat. But God has more than one way of defeating a plan.
He proves to us that He is able to make even the wrath of man (and we may say the wit and power of Satan) praise Him. David prayed, "O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness." God answered that prayer by making Absalom listen to someone else's advice. But God allowed man's wicked plan to get rid of Christ to be carried out in full, and it defeated itself... What a comfort for believers to realise that God is greater than any group of men that can stand against Him. That stays true even when the cunning and power of Satan himself lies behind them all.
- Betrayal. David's most trusted counsellor joined the rebellion. People treated his advice like an answer from God — and writers have long compared him with Judas.
- Lowest. David prays as a barefoot, weeping fugitive. Humbled under God's hand, he stands in the place of exaltation, not defeat.
- Turn. The bad news itself drives him to God. A father's love held him back from pleading against Absalom, but he could plead against Ahithophel.
- Answer. Hushai arrives at once. Commentators differ on whether sending him back showed discernment or David scheming for himself.
- Foolishness. God did not remove the clever enemy. He made Absalom listen to someone else. With the plot against Christ He did the opposite: He let the plan run in full, and it defeated itself.
And it came to pass, when David had come to the summit, where he worshipped God, that behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat rent, and earth upon his head.
David has just climbed the Mount of Olives barefoot and weeping, and at the top a friend meets him dressed for mourning. He had prayed moments before against the counsel of Ahithophel, so commentators ask one question: is Hushai's arrival God's answer, or David's own move?
When David learned that his most trusted adviser had joined the rebellion, nothing human was left to him. One writer sets the king's situation plainly:
At this moment the poor king is overwhelmed by all. He learns of Ahithophel's betrayal. Every resource fails him except one, but that one is completely enough: David bows before the Lord.
The report about Ahithophel did more than alarm David. It pushed him back to the source of his confidence:
David turns to God. He knew how serious the news was. But this very thing brought the source of his confidence before him, just as surely as he saw the hand of Satan in it. A father's love might hold back from pleading against Absalom. But David could now pour out his heart to God. So he says, "O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness." And the LORD heard, and answered.
The hilltop was a place of worship, and the man worshipping there had lost his city, his throne and his son. One writer sees this scene as the turning point of David's whole story:
What a sight! And yet, morally speaking, David was now in the place of exaltation. He had humbled himself under the mighty hand of God. So whatever painful experiences he might still have to face, God was sure to lift him up in due time. It is a blessed thing for all of us when we are in the lowest place before God, if we are in the confidence of His grace.
Hushai arrives dressed for mourning. Rossier sets him beside Ittai, who would not be parted from David:
Hushai is David's close friend. A great love unites them, and they have no secrets from one another. Yet Hushai, unlike Ittai, agrees to be parted from his friend for a time. This is painful for a man who had come to David to express his sympathy, but he chooses the best way to serve him and returns to Jerusalem. With his deep, calm love for his friend, Hushai has an understanding that not even the high priests had. … It is in closeness with Christ that we receive His thoughts.
Commentators differ on what David does next. Some tie Hushai's arrival straight back to the prayer David had just made:
God gives an immediate answer to his servant's prayer. Hushai, the king's intimate friend, rejoins him. David, full of spiritual discernment, sends him back, knowing that God has destined him to "defeat the counsel of Ahithophel."
Others say David prayed and then took the matter back into his own hands:
Instead of leaving this matter entirely with God, David saw an opportunity when Hushai came to him: he could plant his own secret agent in Absalom's court. … This was not faith, for David told Hushai to lie to Absalom and say he would be Absalom's servant, just as he had been David's servant. The matter did work out as David hoped. But he might have seen God work in a more miraculous way if he had simply trusted Him.
The hill David climbed in tears appears again in the life of Jesus, and will appear once more:
In the time of his rejection, David climbed the Mount of Olives weeping (2 Sam. 15:30). This sad and solemn event foretold the rejection of the Lord Jesus. He sang a hymn with His disciples and then "went out to the Mount of Olives" (Matt. 26:30). Gethsemane was there, and as He faced all that lay ahead of Him, the Son of God prayed that the cup might pass from Him, if it was the Father's will. It was from the Mount of Olives that Jesus ascended to heaven (Acts 1:12), and when He returns He will stand with His feet on that same mountain (Zech. 14:4).
- Stripped — Betrayal took away David's last human support, and left him with the one resource that never fails.
- Bowed — He prayed as he climbed, and worshipped at the top. His lowest hour was, morally, his highest.
- Answered — Kelly notes that the LORD heard and answered. Rossier sees Hushai's arrival as that answer, given at once.
- Sent — Hushai came to weep with the king. David sent him back, and he took the harder service instead of the nearer comfort.
- Debated — Commentators differ. Was sending Hushai back spiritual discernment, or a step back from the faith David had just shown?
And David said to him, If thou passest on with me, thou wilt be a burden to me;
David is fleeing Jerusalem, driven out by his own son Absalom, and his trusted adviser Ahithophel has joined the revolt. On the road his friend Hushai comes to share the exile — and David turns him back.
The words are not a rebuff but a calculation. David is on the run with a small band, and every extra man is weight it must carry.
Hushai the Archite comes to meet him with the usual signs of distress. But David points out to him that he will only be an extra burden on the fugitive band. If instead he joins Absalom and professes to serve him, he might defeat Ahithophel's counsel for David. Hushai will find a way of sending messages through the sons of the priests.
David had just been praying. One writer sees God's answer arriving in the person of Hushai — and David recognising it at once.
God gives an immediate answer to His servant's prayer. Hushai, the king's close friend, rejoins him. David, filled with spiritual discernment, sends him back, knowing that God has destined him to "defeat the counsel of Ahithophel."
Commentators differ here. The plan required Hushai to lie to Absalom, and for one writer that makes it scheming, not faith.
Instead of leaving this matter entirely with God, David saw an opportunity when Hushai came to him. He could plant his own secret agent in Absalom's court… This was not faith on David's part, for he told Hushai to lie to Absalom. Hushai was to declare that he would be Absalom's servant, just as he had been David's servant. The matter did work out as David hoped. But if he had simply trusted Him, he might have seen God work in a more miraculous way.
Hushai came offering himself. David gives him a job instead — and not the job he would have chosen.
Displays of devotion are not enough, however dear they may be to the master's heart. They are only the first step toward service. So it is for us Christians. Like Hushai and the priests, we do not get to choose the place or the way in which we serve the Lord. He will decide this.
The job is a hard one. Hushai must go back to Absalom's court and work against Ahithophel there.
Hushai's was a difficult task. It is the same today for those who struggle against Christ's enemies. Like Ahithophel, they pretend to be prophets, but in the end they are false prophets. They know the Lord's thoughts and use their knowledge to deny His authority. But if the Lord sends us into the middle of enemies, let us go without fear.
Hushai is David's close friend, and friendship is how he learns what the king wants. Another follower, Ittai, stayed with David; Hushai was sent away.
Hushai is David's intimate friend. A great love unites them and they have no secrets from one another. Yet Hushai, unlike Ittai, agrees to be parted from his friend for a time… With his deep, calm love for his friend, Hushai has an understanding that not even the high priests had. David himself gives him this understanding: you shall "defeat the counsel of Ahithophel." It is in intimacy with Christ that we receive the communication of His thoughts.
Hushai's mission worked. One writer says the credit belongs elsewhere.
It was not Hushai who defeated the counsel of Ahithophel, but the Lord. "For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring harm upon Absalom."… Hushai's work as a spy had saved the king. But would the king have been lost if Hushai had not acted the spy? The Lord would not have forsaken the king, and though He used Hushai's counsel, David was the loser after all. He lost the chance of seeing the Lord's power step in on his behalf. And how much we also lose through lack of faith in Him, with whom nothing is too hard.
- Burden — David turns his friend back for strategy, not coldness. At his side Hushai is extra weight; in Jerusalem he is a weapon.
- Prayer — Hushai arrives just after David has prayed. One writer sees God's answer walking up the hill, and David acting on it at once.
- Placement — offered devotion is only the start. The king assigns the post, and Hushai's post meant leaving the friend he loved.
- Courage — the post was Absalom's own court. When the Lord sends us among enemies, we can go without fear.
- Power — Scripture credits the outcome to the Lord, not to Hushai. A clever plan can cost us the sight of God acting for us.
but if thou return to the city, and say to Absalom, I will be thy servant, O king; as I have been thy father's servant hitherto, so now will I be thy servant; then mayest thou for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel.
David is climbing the Mount of Olives, fleeing from his own son. He has just heard that his sharpest adviser has joined the rebellion. He answers that news with a prayer, and then with a plan. Commentators disagree about whether the plan was faith or a failure of faith.
Just before this, David prayed against Ahithophel's advice. One writer reads Hushai's arrival as the reply:
God answers His servant's prayer at once. Hushai, the king's close friend, rejoins him. David, full of spiritual discernment, sends him back. He knows God has destined Hushai to "defeat the counsel of Ahithophel."
Hushai had come out to share David's exile. David sends him back instead. The same writer sets him beside Ittai, who insisted on staying:
Hushai is David's close friend. A great love unites them, and they have no secrets from one another. But Hushai, unlike Ittai, agrees to be parted from his friend for a time. This is painful for a man who had come to David to show his sympathy. Still, he chooses the best way to serve him and returns to Jerusalem. With his deep, calm love for his friend, Hushai has an understanding that not even the high priests had. David himself gave him that understanding: you shall "defeat the counsel of Ahithophel." We receive Christ's thoughts when we are close to Him.
Commentators differ sharply here. The words David puts in Hushai's mouth — a pledge of service to Absalom — are not true, and that troubles some readers:
David did not leave this matter entirely with God. When Hushai came to him, he saw a chance to plant his own secret agent in Absalom's court. Hushai was also a counsellor. He was willing to suffer rejection along with David, but David told him he had no need of him. This was not faith on David's part. He told Hushai to lie to Absalom, declaring that he would be Absalom's servant just as he had been David's servant. The matter did work out as David hoped, but he might have seen God work in a more miraculous way if he had simply trusted Him.
Another writer asks what Ahithophel's advice was aiming at, and what David lost by outwitting it himself:
Ahithophel's advice aimed at David alone. He wanted him killed, so that by the death of one man he could bring all Israel back. But Ahithophel had not reckoned with David's Lord, who loved him and was still his Lord and his Keeper through all the discipline he had to pass through. It was not Hushai who defeated the counsel of Ahithophel, but the Lord... But would David have been lost if Hushai had not been acting as a spy? The Lord would not have forsaken the king, and although He used Hushai's counsel, David was the loser after all. He lost the opportunity of seeing the Lord's power and intervention on his behalf. And how much we also lose through lack of faith in Him, with whom nothing is too hard.
One writer asks why Absalom's council went the way it did:
How is it that after hearing Hushai, Absalom and all the men of Israel say, "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel"? It is because God directs everything — the circumstances, men's decisions, their opinions — as He wills, to carry out His purposes. On the surface it would seem that God does not care what is happening. Evil is winning, evil is reigning, men are going beyond what their hearts imagined. But God is hidden behind the scenes. Nothing can resist God: even Satan serves as His instrument.
Hushai had to walk back into the city that had just rejected his king. There he would stand before the man leading the revolt. One writer reads that as a pattern for service on hostile ground:
Hushai's task was hard. It is hard today too for those who struggle against Christ's enemies. Like Ahithophel, those enemies pretend to be prophets. But in the end they are false prophets: they know the Lord's thoughts and use that knowledge to deny His authority. But if the Lord sends us among enemies, let us go without fear. Isn't defeating Ahithophel's counsel really giving our David back the place that belongs to Him?
- The plot. Ahithophel's advice aimed at David's life: kill one man, and all Israel comes back.
- The prayer. David prayed, and Hushai reached him at once. One writer calls that arrival God's answer.
- The cost. Hushai loved David enough to be parted from him. Walking back into the rejected king's city was the harder loyalty.
- The hand. Commentators differ on whether David's plan showed discernment or a lapse from faith. They agree on this: the Lord, not Hushai, undid Ahithophel. A simpler trust would have let David watch Him do it.
- The aim. Working against the enemy's advice, then and now, is really giving the true King back His place.