2 Samuel 15
Butler15 1 And it came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him. And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate : and it was so, that when any man had a suit which should come to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou ? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. And Absalom said unto him, See, thy matters are good and right ; but there is no man deputed of the king to hear thee. Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice ! And it was so, that when any man came nigh to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took hold of him, and kissed him. And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the king for judgment : so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. 7 And it came to pass at the end of four years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the LORD, in Hebron. For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria, saying, If the LORD shall indeed bring me again to Jerusalem, then I will serve the LORD. And the king said unto him, Go in peace. So he arose, and went to Hebron. But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom is king in Hebron. And with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem, that were invited, and went in their simplicity ; and they knew not anything. And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counsellor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he offered the sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong ; for the people increased continually with Absalom. 13 And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom. And David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee ; for else none of us shall escape from Absalom : make speed to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring down evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword. And the king’s servants said unto the king, Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall choose. And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, which were concubines, to keep the house. And the king went forth, and all the people after him ; and they tarried in Beth-merhak. And all his servants passed on beside him ; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men which came after him from Gath, passed on before the king. Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us ? return, and abide with the king : for thou art a stranger, and also an exile ; return to thine own place. Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us, seeing I go whither I may ? return thou, and take back thy brethren ; mercy and truth be with thee. And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the LORD liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, even there also will thy servant be. 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. And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over : the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness. And, lo, Zadok also came, 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 done passing out of the city. And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city : if I shall find favor in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again, and shew me both it, and his habitation : but if he say thus, I have no delight in thee ; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him. The king said also unto Zadok the priest, Art thou not a seer ? return into the city in peace, and
28 your two sons with you, Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. See, I will 29 tarry at the fords of the wilderness, until there come word from you to certify me. Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem : and they abode there.
1-6. How Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. Absalom was the third son of David. He had killed his brother Amnon, the first-born son, because of a grievous wrong done to his own full sister, Tamar. The second son was now also dead, so that Absalom counted himself heir-presumptive to the throne. After killing Amnon he fled to Geshur, near Bashan, and remained three years with the king, his grandfather. Then he was permitted by David to return, and after two years more was admitted to his father’s presence, and fully re-established in all his rights and privileges as a son. At once he begins, and for years deliberately prosecutes, a systematic plan for undermining his father’s authority and substituting his own. As before, in his vengeance against Amnon, maintaining a studied deception for two years, and then commanding the murder in cold blood, so now, for four years, without compunction, and with unscrupulous determination, he pursues his ambitious and disloyal purpose. A strange contrast, we note in passing, between the sons of Saul and David in this particular. The son of a God-abandoned father was loyal, helpful, and faithful to the end, while the son of the repentant, forgiven David proves disloyal, persecuting, and impious, taking base advantage of his father’s clemency, and of his many disqualifying infirmities and griefs.
The acts by which he sought, and in the end attained, superior popularity with the men of Israel, are recited in these verses, and are substantially the same that demagogues of every age have used. First, he attended to the matter of display. He clad his beautiful person in princely apparel, gathered a splendid retinue of attendants, with chariots, horsemen, and footmen, and so accustomed the people to the state and equipage of royalty as his own. Then he put himself in David’s proper but neglected place, “in the gate of the city,” where the great duty of hearing complaints and administering justice was devolved upon every Eastern king. Not, however, to do justice did Absalom rise up early and stand in the gate. Not to stay David’s feeble hands, to supply David’s necessitated neglects, but to enfeeble him the more, to call attention to his neglects, and to deepen the sense of grievance and discontent felt by the people. This he did under pretence of a deep concern for their welfare, with the declaration that he would right their wrongs and remove their troubles, if only he had the power. And to this he added all personal tokens of interest and even affection, toward every one that came near him. After this method of flattery and disloyal insinuation, pursued in city and country for four years, “Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.” B.
4. A judge in Israel.** He that should himself have been judged to death for murder, has the impudence to aim at being a judge of others. We read not of Absalom’s wisdom, virtue, or learning in the laws, nor had he given any proofs of his love to justice, but the contrary; yet he wishes he were a judge. Those are often most ambitious of preferment that are least fit for it; the best-qualified are the most modest and self-diffident, while it is no better than the spirit of an Absalom that says, O that I were a judge in Israel! H.
7-9. Nothing wants now but a cloak of religion, to perfect the treachery of that ungracious son, who carried peace in his name, war in his heart: and how easily is that put on! Absalom hath a holy vow to be paid in Hebron! The devout man had made it long since, while he was exiled in Syria; and now he hastens to perform it; “If the Lord shall bring me back again to Jerusalem, then will I serve the Lord.” Wicked hypocrites dare to play with God, that they may mock men. Bp. H.
How Absalom covered his steps in initiating the rebellion. He professes to bethink him of a vow made at least six years before, when he was an exile in Geshur. The vow was to serve—i.e., sacrifice to the Lord, if the Lord should bring him again to Jerusalem. Six years the vow has been held in abeyance, but now it must be paid—in Hebron! He asks and obtains David’s permission to go. He selects Hebron as having been his own birth-place, and the old capital of David’s kingdom. As a sacred city, the residence of priests, it was also a natural place for his proposed sacrifice. As a national centre, where were many still discontented at the transfer of the government to Jerusalem, and as near that city where the proposed blow is to be struck, it is the place for starting the conspiracy. “So he arose, and went to Hebron.” But we hear nothing of any vow performed or sacrifice offered. B.
7. The nature of the case forbids the period of forty years. Josephus, and also the Syriac and Arabic versions, have it four years. Two ancient manuscripts have it, not “years,” but days—in which case it may date from Absalom’s kind reception home by his father. It should be, after four years; for so long Absalom had been pushing this enterprise, ingratiating himself into the good graces of the men of Israel; making special friends in every city of the land, who when the opportune moment should at length arrive, and the trump of rebellion should sound, would be ready to swell the cry—“Absalom reigneth in Hebron.” H. C.
10-12. How the conspiracy was formed, and what it came to. Two hundred men he invited to go with him from Jerusalem, to participate in his sacrificial feast. These, it is intimated, understood nothing of his disloyal purposes, but were afterward evidently seduced into sympathy with his treason. From Hebron Absalom sent men to create disaffection and foment the conspiracy throughout all the tribes, everywhere to give the impression broadly forth that Judah was prepared to proclaim him king in Hebron, and to secure instant action, at a given signal by the disaffected in every place. Then he solicited the counsel and aid of Ahithophel, a man of whom David touchingly speaks as his own familiar friend in whom he trusted, his chosen guide and companion, with whom he took counsel and walked to the house of God (Ps. 41 and 55). This man deserted his royal master and friend, trampled all sacred ties, human and Divine, under foot, and became the main pillar of the rebellion. From the time of his accession to the counsels of Absalom until the day his counsel was rejected, the conspiracy was successful. Wisely Absalom had planned and acted throughout in securing the favor of the people, and now, having engaged David’s best-known counsellor as his ally, multitudes flock to him at Hebron, and he is prepared to move against Jerusalem. B.
From this stage of the proceedings, the historian turns our thought to David (15: 13 and onward). The whole country is rising to hail Absalom king, and to swell the hosts of his armed followers. H. C.
13,14. The tidings brought to David, he at once determined to flee. The narrative that follows discloses the reasons and motives which actuated his flight. Not merely that his age and infirmities impaired his physical and mental energies, nor that his excessive love for Absalom, so shocked and wounded, rendered him averse to such an unnatural conflict, but the deep conviction that this revolt of his son was a part of God’s previously declared judgment against his great sin, wrought in his now thoroughly humbled heart an unwillingness to resist. And with this feeling of submission to the Divine discipline was associated an unwillingness to involve the people, and the beautiful city itself, in his personal calamities. To save his faithful dependents from destruction and the city from assault and ruin, he commands an instant departure. And the many touching incidents of his flight all the way over the Jordan to Mahanaim in Gilead, as well as the third Psalm, written at that period, show how submissively he bowed his soul before God, how he still trusted and hoped in God amid the overwhelming billows, how patiently he could bear every insult and trial, if only he might recover the peace and joy of God’s restored favor! B.
David did not call a council, but consulting only with God and his own heart, determined immediately to quit Jerusalem. He took up this strange resolve, so disagreeable to his character as a man of courage, as a penitent, submitting to the rod, and lying down under God’s correcting hand. Conscience now reminded him of his sin in the matter of Uriah, and the sentence he was under for it, that evil should rise against him out of his own house. “Now,” thinks he, “the Word of God begins to be fulfilled, and it is not for me to contend with it or fight against it: God is righteous, and I submit.” Before unrighteous Absalom he could justify himself and stand it out; but before the righteous God he must condemn himself, and yield to his judgments. Thus he accepts the punishment of his iniquity. H.—He was not prostrated by unmanly fear, nor did he abandon his hope in God. He took all prudent means to arrest, if possible, the threatened danger to which his rule and even his life were exposed. But his whole conduct showed that his “sin was ever before him,” and that he was deeply conscious that it was the visitation of God which was now upon him. W. Lee.
It was a wise measure on the part of the king to resolve on immediate flight from Jerusalem, not only to avoid being shut up in the city, and to prevent a massacre in its streets, but to give his adherents the opportunity of gathering around him. Indeed, in the hour of danger, the king seemed his old self again. We can quite understand how, in David’s peculiar state of mind, trials in which he recognized the dealings of God would rouse him to energy, while the even tenor of affairs left him listless. No weakness now—outward or inward! Prudence, determination, and courage in action; but, above all, a constant acknowledgment of God, self-humiliation, and a continuous reference of all to Him, marked his every step. A. E.
17-29. A more moving spectacle could not be exhibited than this of a king, venerable for his years and victories, sacred in the characters both of his piety and of prophecy, renowned for prowess and revered for wisdom, thus reduced to the condition of a fugitive, to a sudden and extreme necessity of flying for his life, from the presence and by the rebellion of his own son. Delaney.—His departure from Jerusalem is related with a minuteness to which we have no parallel in the Scripture history of any single day, except that of which this was the type, when the son of David, betrayed by “his own familiar friend,” and rejected by his own people, went out by the same path “bearing his reproach.” It was early in the morning when the king, leaving his palace in the care of his ten concubines, went forth by the eastern gate with all his household and a crowd of people; for there were still many who showed him the deepest attachment. Among his faithful guard of Cherethites and Pelethites, and his chosen heroes, the six hundred who had followed him ever since his residence at Gath, was Ittai the Gittite. David released him and his countrymen from their allegiance; but Ittai vowed that he would follow the king in life or death, and David bade him lead the way. They passed over the brook Kidron (the Cedron of the New Testament), by the way that led over the Mount of Olives to Jericho and the wilderness, while “all the country wept with a loud voice.” As David halted in the valley to let the people pass on, he was joined by Zadok and Abiathar, with all the Levites, bringing with them the ark of God. With self-renouncing reverence, David refused to have the ark removed, for his sake, from the sanctuary where he had fixed its abode, and exposed to share his perils. If Jehovah willed to show him favor, he would bring him back to see both the ark and His habitation; if not—“Behold here am I! let Him do to me as seemeth good to Him!” He reminded the priests that they could do him effectual service in the city by employing their two sons, who were both swift runners, to bring him tidings, and so he sent them back with the ark. P. S.
19-21. Ittai was a stranger who had but lately come to Jerusalem, and as he was not attached to David personally, it would be safer for him to return to the city and offer to the reigning king the services which David could no longer reward. But the generous proposal of David was rejected with equal nobility on the part of Ittai. He had made up his mind, like
Ruth the Moabitess with reference to Naomi, that wherever David was, in life or in death, there also he should be. How affecting must it have been to David to receive such an assurance from a stranger! W. G. B.
23. The people’s sympathy with David in his affliction. When he and his attendants passed over the brook Kidron (the very same brook that Christ passed over, when he entered upon his sufferings, John 18:1), toward the way of the wilderness, which lay between Jerusalem and Jericho, all the country wept with a loud voice. H.—The ravine of Kidron is the deep ravine on the east of Jerusalem, now commonly known as the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which separates the city from the Mount of Olives. The single mention of it in the New Testament is perhaps designed to recall the present occasion and to suggest the parallel between David fleeing from Jerusalem, and Christ leaving the city which had rejected Him, as the treachery of Judas was the counterpart and “fulfilment” of that of Ahithophel. A. F. K.
24. The priests and Levites firmly adhered to David and his interest. They knew David’s great affection to them and their office, notwithstanding his failings; the method Absalom took to gain people’s affections made no impression upon them; and therefore they steadily adhered to David; Zadok and Abiathar and all the Levites, if he go will accompany him, and take the ark with them, that by it they might ask counsel of God for him.
25-27. He is very submissive to the holy will of God, concerning the issue of his present dark dispensation. He hopes the best, and hopes for it from the favor of God, which he looks upon to be the fountain of all good; “If God favor me so far, I shall be settled again as formerly:” but he provides for the worst; “If he deny me this favor, if he say, I have no delight in thee, I know I deserve the continuance of his displeasure, his holy will be done;” see him here waiting to receive the event, and willing to refer himself to God concerning it. “Let him do to me as seemeth good to him, all is well that God does.” Observe with what satisfaction he speaks of the Divine disposal: not only, “He can do what he will,” subscribing to his power, or, “He may do what he will,” subscribing to his sovereignty, or, “He will do what he will,” subscribing to his unchangeableness, but, Let him do what he will, subscribing to his wisdom and goodness. It is our interest as well as duty cheerfully to acquiesce in the will of God, whatever befalls us. That we may not complain of what is, let us see God’s hand in all events; and that we may not be afraid of what shall be, let us see all events in God’s hand. H.
These words show how much God was in David’s mind in connection with the events of that humiliating day. They show, too, that he did not regard his case as desperate. But everything turned on the will of God. It might be that, in His great mercy, He would bring him back to Jerusalem. His former promises led him to think of this as a possible, perhaps probable, termination of the insurrection. But it might also be that the Lord had no more delight in him. The chastening with which He was now visiting him for his sin might involve the success of Absalom. In that case, all that David would say was that he was at God’s disposal, and would offer no resistance to His holy will. If he was to be restored, he would be restored without the aid of the ark; if he was to be destroyed, the ark could not save him. Zadok and his Levites must carry it back into the city. W. G. B.
I understand not how a man can front the awful possibilities of a future on earth, knowing all the points at which he is vulnerable, and all the ways by which disaster may come down upon him, and retain his sanity, except he believes that all is ruled, not merely by a God far above him, who may be as unsympathizing as He is omnipotent, but by his elder Brother, the Son of God, who showed His heart by all His dealings with us here below, and who loves as tenderly, and sympathizes as closely with us as ever He did when on earth He gathered the weary and the sick around Him. Is it not a thing, men and women, worth having, to have this for the settled conviction of your hearts, that Christ is moving all the pulses of your life, and that nothing falls out without the intervention of His presence and the power of His will working through it? Is there any other place where a man can plant his foot and say, Now I am on a rock and I care not what comes? The riddle of Providence is solved, and the discipline of Providence is being accomplished, when we have grasped this conviction,—All events do serve me, for all circumstances come from His will and pleasure, which is love; and everywhere where I go—be it in the darkness of disaster or in the sunshine of prosperity—I shall see standing before me that familiar and beloved shape, and shall be able to say, “It is the Lord.” Friends and brethren, that is the faith to live by, that is the faith to die by; and without it life is a mockery and a misery. A. M.
30. AND David went up by the ascent of the mount of Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered, and went barefoot: and all the people that were with him covered every
31 man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up. And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the
32 counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. And it came to pass, that when David was come to the top of the ascent, where God was worshipped, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him
33 with his coat rent, and earth upon his head: and David said unto him, If thou passest on with
34 me, then thou shalt be a burden unto me: but if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom, I will be thy servant, O king; as I have been thy father’s servant in time past, so will I
35 now be thy servant: then shalt thou defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel. And hast thou not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar the priests? therefore it shall be, that what thing soever thou shalt hear out of the king’s house, thou shalt tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the
36 priests. Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz Zadok’s son, and Jonathan
37. Abiathar’s son; and by them ye shall send unto me everything that ye shall hear. So Hushai David’s friend came into the city; and Absalom came into Jerusalem.
16 1 And when David was a little past the top of the ascent, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and an hundred of summer fruits, and a bottle of
2 wine. And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses be for the king’s household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to 3 eat; and the wine, that such as be faint in the wilderness may drink. And the king said, And where is thy master’s son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem: 4 for he said, To-day shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father. Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine is all that pertaineth unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I do obeisance; let me find favor in thy sight, my lord, O king. 5 And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, there came out thence a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came out, and cursed still 6 as he came. And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the 7 people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. And thus said Shimei 8 when he cursed, Begone, begone, thou man of blood, and man of Belial: the LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art 9 taken in thine own mischief, because thou art a man of blood. Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I 10 pray thee, and take off his head. And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? Because he curseth, and because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David; who 11 then shall say, Wherefore hast thou done so? And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more may this Benjamite now do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him. 12 It may be that the LORD will look on the wrong done unto me, and that the LORD will requite 13 me good for his cursing of me this day. So David and his men went by the way: and Shimei went along on the hill side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, 14 and cast dust. And the king, and all the people that were with him, came weary; and he refreshed himself there.
Very touching and instructive are the recounted incidents of David’s flight from Jerusalem to the plain of the Jordan. Fully and impressively they open to us the very heart of this trustful, penitent, submissive king. We see his self-forgetting generosity, in offering to release Ittai the Gittite and his band of six hundred from the discomforts and perils of his wandering. We admire the steadfastness and strength of his faith, the absolute resting of this great and fearful issue upon God, which he shows in calmly sending back the ark of God, and all that ministered to its care and worship. With thankful wonder we read his words of humble submission and implicit trust: “If I shall find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again; but if he say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good to him.” A convincing proof of this submissive spirit we find in his meek endurance of Shimei’s shameless cursing. “Let him alone and let him curse,” he said to Abishai, “for the Lord hath bidden him. It may be that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing.” Yet with this submission, we also discern his continued faith in prayer, and in the need of seconding his prayer by every right means of action. Knowing Ahithophel’s treachery, and aware of his practical wisdom, David beseeches the Lord to turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
Then he persuades Hushai, another friend and counsellor, to join Absalom and counteract the counsels of Ahithophel. And, as we read, God answered the prayer by making the means effectual. The counsel of Hushai prevailed, “For the Lord appointed to defeat the good (wise) counsel of Ahithophel, to the end that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom.” In connection with these incidents, we note these affecting references: “The king also passed over the brook Kidron;” “and David went up by the ascent of Olivet, and wept.” Not the kingdom and the kingship of David alone, but many marked localities, as Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the Kidron, and Olivet, all had a designed typical connection through David’s history, with the Son of David. And as so often remarked, in this representative and typical association we find the special interest and value of his whole story. B.—It is touching to see David, mild, self-possessed, thoroughly humble, and most considerate of others. Adversity is the element in which he shines; it is in prosperity he falls; in adversity he rises beautifully. After the humbling events in his life to which our attention has been lately called, it is a relief to witness the noble bearing of the venerable saint amid the pelting of this most pitiless storm. W. G. B.
15 : 30. With a heavy heart, and a covered head, and a weeping eye, and bare feet, is David gone away from Jerusalem. Never did he with more joy come up to this city, than now he left it with sorrow: how could he do otherwise, whom the insurrection of his own son drove out from his house, from his throne, from the ark of God? Bp. H.
31. He prays not against Ahithophel’s person, but against his counsel, that God would turn it into foolishness; that if he gave wise counsel, it might be rejected as foolish; or if it were followed, that by some providence or other it might be defeated, and not attain the end. David prayed this in a firm belief that God has all hearts in his hand, and tongues, too; that when he pleases he can take away the understandings of the aged, and make the judges fools (Job 12: 17; Is. 3: 2, 3), and in hope that God would own and plead his just and injured cause. We may pray in faith and should pray with fervency, that God will turn that counsel into foolishness which is taken against his people.
32. And now Providence brought Hushai to him, while he was yet speaking. God heard and sent him the person that should be instrumental to answer his prayer. H.—While it seemed good unto God to inflict this salutary discipline on the spirit of David, it also seemed good unto Him by the arrangements of His providence to open a way for its prosperous termination. The return of Zadok and Abiathar, but more especially of Hushai, was the preparative in the order of events for the safe and happy return of David himself in triumph to that very city from which he was now taking flight as a mournful outcast. The same God who laid this trial upon him provided also the way of escape from it. T. C.
34. For a correct estimate of the conduct of David in advising Hushai to offer his service to Absalom, for the purpose of betraying him, we should recollect that Absalom, as a traitor, a murderer, and a rebel, had forfeited all the rights of society; and David could be no more guilty of perfidy in forming a design to supplant him, than any man would be who should deceive a madman so as to prevent his murdering his friends. Stackhouse.—Absalom was an unnatural rebel, and Ahithophel a traitor; and on the quashing of their rebellious plans depended the religion and prosperity of the kingdom. Accordingly, David only desired that of Hushai, which every good subject that wished well to his king and country was in duty bound to do. Chandler.
35-37. His main business will be to oppose the counsel of Ahithophel, try to secure a little time to David, and thus give him a chance of escape. Moreover, he is to co-operate with the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and through their sons send word to David of everything he hears. Hushai obeys David, and as he returns to the city from the east, Absalom arrives from the south, before David is more than three or four miles away. But for the Mount of Olives intervening, Absalom might have seen the company that followed his father. W. G. B.
Ziba Brings Food to David.
Shortly after parting from Hushai, the king’s forces met Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth. He had a couple of asses with him, laden with two hundred rounds of bread, one hundred bunches of raisins, one hundred of summer fruits, and a skin of wine. When David asked him, shortly, What meanest thou by these? Ziba was ready with an answer which went to the king’s heart. The asses were for the women and children to ride on, the food for the soldiers, and the wine for those to drink who might faint in the weary wilderness. Faithfulness exists somewhere, the king thought as he heard these cunning words. Ziba’s present was a ray of hope in the gloom. But, he asked, where is thy master’s son? “At Jerusalem,” was the answer, “for he said, To-day shall the house of Israel restore to me the kingdom of my father.” It was a falsehood. Probably it was as true as the story of the bread and the fruit and the wine. Unfortunately, David believed it. And he acted on his belief: “Thine,” he said, “is everything which was Mephibosheth’s.” Sime.—That Ziba was calumniating Mephibosheth is sufficiently obvious. How could Mephibosheth, an insignificant cripple, who had never claimed the crown, or taken any part in politics, expect to be made king, even in the confusion of parties which might ensue upon Absalom’s rebellion? Ziba’s story was an audacious fiction, invented in the hope of getting a grant of the estate which he was cultivating for Mephibosheth’s benefit, and in spite of its improbability, it passed muster in the haste and confusion of the moment. David was rash and hasty in thus treating his grant to Mephibosheth as forfeited by treason without a word of inquiry. This unreflecting impetuosity was a marked fault of his character. A. F. K.
Shimei’s Shameful Abuse of David.
Verses 5-13.
Shimei was guilty of every form of offensive and provoking assault. He threw stones, he called abusive names, he hurled wicked charges against David; he declared that God was fighting against him, and fighting justly against such a man of blood, such a man of Belial. And, as if this were not enough, he stung him in the most sensitive part of his nature, reproaching him with the fact that it was his son that now reigned instead of him, because the Lord had delivered the kingdom into his hand. But even all this accumulation of coarse and shameful abuse failed to ruffle David’s equanimity. W. G. B.
7,8. What was done long since to the house of Saul, is the only thing which Shimei can recall, and with which he upbraids David, because that was the thing that he himself was a loser by. No man could be more innocent of the blood of the house of Saul than David was. Once and again he spared Saul’s life, while Saul sought his. When Saul and his sons were slain by the Philistines, David and his men were many miles off; and when they heard it lamented it. From the murder of Abner and Ishbosheth he had sufficiently cleared himself; and yet all the blood of the house of Saul must be laid at his door; innocency is no fence against malice and falsehood.
10,11. David observes the hand of God in it: The Lord hath said unto him, Curse David, and again, So let him curse, for the Lord hath bidden him. As it was Shimei’s sin, it was not from God but from his own wicked heart, nor did God’s hand in it excuse or extenuate it, much less justify it, any more than it did their sin who put Christ to death. But as it was David’s affliction, it was from the Lord, one of the evils which he raised up against him. David looked above the instrument of his trouble to the supreme Director, as Job, when the plunderers had stripped him, acknowledges, The Lord hath taken away. Nothing more proper to quiet a soul under affliction than an eye to the hand of God in it: I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it. The scourge of the tongue is God’s rod. H.
The sin of Shimei’s curse was his own; the smart of the curse was God’s. God wills that as David’s chastisement which he hates as Shimei’s wickedness. Wicked men are never the freer from guilt or punishment for that hand which the holy God hath in their offensive actions. Yet David can say, “Let him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord hath bidden him;” as meaning to give a reason of his own patience, rather than Shimei’s impunity. The issue showed how well David could distinguish betwixt the act of God and of a traitor. Bp. H.
12. He comforts himself with hopes that God would, some way or other, bring good to him out of his affliction, would balance the trouble itself, and recompense his patience under it; “The Lord will requite me good for his cursing. If God bid Shimei grieve me, it is that he himself may the more sensibly comfort me; surely he has mercy in store for me which he is preparing me for by this trial.” We may depend upon God as our Paymaster, not only for our services, but for our sufferings. Let them curse, but bless thou. H.
The fortitude of the soldier’s heart was almost second nature to David. He was not at all the man to pale before scenes of martial conflict or the agonies of wounds and death. But here are far other ingredients of grief and woe. David saw in this cursing, and, indeed, in this whole conspiracy, the Lord’s rebuke of his own great sins. He could bear any and every trial involved in it save this one—the frown of his own holy Lord God! We see yet more of David’s heart in those Psalms (42 and 43) which obviously relate to this period of his history. These Psalms and this history are at one in the points of enforced exile from the place of hallowed worship; of the location of their respective events—viz., in the land beyond the Jordan—that of “the Hermonites;” and of crossing that river where “deep called unto deep at the noise of its water-courses,” suggesting in sad symbol the waves of deep sorrow that dashed over his soul; and, not least, of the almost insupportable sense of depression and discouragement against which his soul is perpetually struggling and which it tasks the utmost energy of his will to withstand: “Why art thou cast down, oh, my soul? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet have cause to praise him for the help of his countenance” and the joy of his salvation. H. C.
14. And so the king, and his mighty men and all his people, press down the narrow and tortuous road, out of the reach of Absalom. It has been a long and weary day. At last, at the foot of the steep hills, they are where they can defend themselves for the night, and at the first alarm put the Jordan behind them. Knox.—There they rested after the long eventful day, at the ford or bridge of the river. Among the thickets of the Jordan, the asses of Ziba were unladen, and the weary travellers refreshed themselves, and waited for tidings from Jerusalem. It must have been long after nightfall that the joyful sound was heard of the two youths, sons of the High Priests, bursting in upon the encampment with the news from the capital. Stanley.
At certain times and in certain circumstances it may be the duty of one who is maligned to repel falsehood and vindicate truth in the world; but all thoughts of vengeance are absolutely forbidden by the law of Christ. “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” This is not only a prohibition, it is also a privileged exemption. From this rough and dangerous work the Son makes his people free. When a neighbor assails our good name, our own hearts too readily prompt to vengeance. A son of Zeruiah is ready within us to say, Let me go over and take off his head. But, beware: like David, see rather God’s hand permitting the trial to come, and adjust yourself to meet it so that it will press you nearer to your Lord, and keep you closer in his steps. Arnot.
What then is to be done, when on account of our sins God leads us by a path that is full of thorns and thistles? The history of David answers the question: he bends, he prays, he acts. He neglects no legitimate means to maintain himself as much as possible in his difficult position; but above all, he humbles himself under the mighty hand of God, and bears what he has merited with patience. He who knows thus to bear his cross, is evidently already on the road to win the lost crown. While we follow in his footsteps of trust and submission, yet when heart and flesh faint and fail, let us rest upon the Greater than David, who trod this same path through the valley of Kedron for our deliverance. Van O.