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2 Samuel 15-17
Absalom Rebels
and David Runs
Psalm 47:5-9 The King is Exalted
5.God has gone up with a shout, Yahweh with the sound of a trumpet.6.Sing praise to God, sing praises. Sing praises to our King, sing praises.7.For God is the King of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding.8.God reigns over the nations. God sits on His holy throne.9.The princes of the peoples are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God. He is greatly exalted!"Observation
47:5-9.The psalmist praises God for His ascent as King over all the earth. In the first half of the psalm He is seen as the one who subdues their enemies under them. In the second half He is envisioned as reigning over the nations from His holy throne, in Jerusalem, in fulfillment of the promises to Abraham (Gen 12). The rulers of the nations/peoples will be the people of the God of Abraham. His rule will bless the entire earth in the future, and at that time He will be greatly exalted, which is His purpose in creation. God will be exalted and seen as ruler over all; we don't yet see this (Hebrews 2:8) but we will.
Application
Just because we don't see the immediate fulfillment of God's promises doesn't mean they won't happen; trust the God who will do what He's promised.Prayer
My God, thanks for the victories You've brought about in my life, may I never doubt the total and complete fulfillment of all You've promised. Amen.
Proverbs 13:10 Path to Peace and Intimacy
10.“Pride only breeds quarrels, but with the well-advised is wisdom.“Observation
13:10.The proud sinner has to have things their way, and they fight until they get it, doing the devil's will. The humble seeks advice in the fear of God, gaining wisdom (the right, God-glorifying objectives) and a lower blood pressure. James elaborates on this theme of how prideful desires are demonic and alienate us from both God and others.
Application
Humbly seeking God's will rather than our own results in doing the right thing and peace.
Prayer
Lord, may my worth and value come from seeking and doing Your will, and not from arrogantly insisting upon my own way. Amen.
2Samuel 15-17 Absalom Rebels and David Runs
David fails to faithfully exercise the authority God gave him to judge Israel. As a result, a vacuum was created into which Absalom stepped, and he stole the hearts of Israel. David reaps the promised consequences of his sins, yet God still watches out for him. Friends and foes combine to work out God's plan to judge evil behavior and bless righteous behavior.
2 Samuel 15 Absalom Absconds with the Hearts of Israel
1.It happened after this, that Absalom prepared a chariot and horses, and fifty men to run before him.2.Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate. It was so, that when any man had a suit which should come to the king for judgment, then Absalom called to him, and said, "What city are you from?" He said, "Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel."3.Absalom said to him, "Behold, your matters are good and right; but there is no man deputized by the king to hear you."4.Absalom said moreover, "Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man who has any suit or cause might come to me, and I would do him justice!"5.It was so, that when any man came near to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took hold of him, and kissed him.6.Absalom did this sort of thing to all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.7.It happened at the end of four years, that Absalom said to the king, "Please let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed to Yahweh, in Hebron.8.For your servant vowed a vow while I stayed at Geshur in Syria, saying, ‘If Yahweh shall indeed bring me again to Jerusalem, then I will serve Yahweh.’"9.The king said to him, "Go in peace." So he arose, and went to Hebron.10.But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, "As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron!’"11.Two hundred men went with Absalom out of Jerusalem, who were invited, and went in their simplicity; and they didn’t know anything.12.Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.13.A messenger came to David, saying, "The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom."14.David said to all his servants who 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 on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword."15.The king’s servants said to the king, "Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king chooses."16.The king went forth, and all his household after him. The king left ten women, who were concubines, to keep the house.17.The king went forth, and all the people after him; and they stayed in Beth Merhak.18.All his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.19.Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, "Why do you also go with us? Return, and stay with the king; for you are a foreigner, and also an exile. Return to your own place.20.Whereas you came but yesterday, should I this day make you go up and down with us, since I go where I may? Return, and take back your brothers. Hesed/covenantal loyalty and faithfulness be with you."21.Ittai answered the king, and said, "As Yahweh lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in what place my lord the king shall is, whether for death or for life, even there also will your servant be."22.David said to Ittai, "Go and pass over." Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones who were with him.23.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.
24.Behold, 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 finished passing out of the city.25.The king said to Zadok, "Carry back the ark of God into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of Yahweh, he will bring me again, and show me both it, and his habitation;26.but if he say thus, ‘I have no delight in you’; behold, here am I. Let him do to me as seems good to him."27.The king said also to Zadok the priest, "Aren’t you a seer? Return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar.28.Behold, I will stay at the fords of the wilderness, until word comes from you to inform me."
29.Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem; and they stayed there.30.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 who were with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up.
31.Someone told David, saying, "Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom." David said, "Yahweh, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness."32.It happened that when David had come to the top, where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat torn, and earth on his head.33.David said to him, "If you pass on with me, then you will be a burden to me;34.but if you return to the city, and tell Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king. As I have been your father’s servant in time past, so will I now be your servant; then will you defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.’35.Don’t you have Zadok and Abiathar the priests there with you? Therefore it shall be, that whatever thing you shall hear out of the king’s house, you shall tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests.36.Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son, and Jonathan, Abiathar’s son; and by them you shall send to me everything that you shall hear."37.So Hushai, David’s friend, came into the city; and Absalom came into Jerusalem.
Observations
15:1-6.David didn't do a good job of exercising oversight and executing judgment as shown in the years he neglected bringing Absalom back into relationship, and in the way in which Absalom was able to sway the heart of the Israelites. To steal their affection from David, who had made their survival and prosperity possible says much about both the fickleness of Israel and the failure of David. He was occupying his lazy-boy recliner, and not the throne. Just as David failed to carry out his kingly responsibility to lead the army and fell with Bathsheba, so now, he reaps the consequences of failing to be the shepherd and judge of Israel.
15:7-12.
Deceit is a hoofmark of the devil, as is rebellion. Absalom is guilty of both in usurping the throne.
15:13-23.
David, the slayer of Goliath and subduer of the Philistines, flees, rather than rely on God to protect and deliver him as he had in the past. The moral compromise with Bathsheba undermined his confidence in God. In contrast, Ittai, a foreigner like Ruth, demonstrates the kind of trust and commintment that David used to have. He will eventually reap the reward of faithfulness (18:2).
15:24-37.
David sends Zadok and the ark back into the city in the hopes that God will look with favor upon him. On the Mount of Olives, David prays specifically that God will bring the counsel of his former adviser, Ahithophel, to naught. He sends Hushai as an undercover spy to undermine the counsel of Ahithophel.
Application
Neglecting God given responsibility, especially on the home front, results in ruin.
Prayer
All-wise God, show me where I might not be fulfilling the responsibilities You've entrusted to me, so I may repent and reform. Thanks. Amen.
2 Samuel 16 Friends and Foes
1.When David was a little past the top, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of donkeys saddled, and on them two hundred loaves of bread, and one hundred clusters of raisins, and one hundred summer fruits, and a bottle of wine.2.The king said to Ziba, What do you mean by these? Ziba said, The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as are faint in the wilderness may drink.3.The king said, "Where is your master’s son?" Ziba said to the king, "Behold, he is staying in Jerusalem; for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will restore me the kingdom of my father.’"4.Then the king said to Ziba, "Behold, all that pertains to Mephibosheth is yours." Ziba said, "I do obeisance. Let me find favor in your sight, my lord, O king."
5.When king David came to Bahurim, behold, a man of the family of the house of Saul came out, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera. He came out, and cursed still as he came.6.He cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.7.Shimei said when he cursed, "Be gone, be gone, you man of blood, and base fellow!8.Yahweh has returned on you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned! Yahweh has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son! Behold, you are caught by your own mischief, because you are a man of blood!"9.Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please let me go over and take off his head."10.The king said, "What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? Because he curses, and because Yahweh has said to him, ‘Curse David’; who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’"11.David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, "Behold, my son, who came forth from my bowels, seeks my life. How much more this Benjamite, now? Leave him alone, and let him curse; for Yahweh has invited him.12.It may be that Yahweh will look on the wrong done to me, and that Yahweh will repay me good for the cursing of me today."13.So David and his men went by the way; and Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him, and cursed as he went, threw stones at him, and threw dust.14.The king, and all the people who were with him, came weary; and he refreshed himself there.
15.Absalom, and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him.16.It happened, when Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, had come to Absalom, that Hushai said to Absalom, "Long live the king! Long live the king!"17.Absalom said to Hushai, "Is this your kindness to your friend? Why didn’t you go with your friend?"18.Hushai said to Absalom, "No; but whomever Yahweh, and this people, and all the men of Israel have chosen, his will I be, and with him I will stay.19.Again, whom should I serve? Shouldn’t I serve in the presence of his son? As I have served in your father’s presence, so will I be in your presence."20.Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, "Give your counsel what we shall do."21.Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Go in to your father’s concubines, that he has left to keep the house. Then all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong."22.So they spread Absalom a tent on the top of the house; and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.23.The counsel of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man inquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.
Observations
16:1-5.David meets Ziba who demonstrates hesed, and when asked, tells David how Mephibosheth is disloyal. David gives all that Mephibosheth has to Ziba. 2Sam 19:24-30 tells another story about Mephibosheth's loyalty, the true one. David was too quick to believe the bad report and act on it, perhaps influenced by kindness in his time of distress.
16:6-14.
David responds well to another member of Saul's house, Shimei, who curses him for being a man of blood, and destroying Saul's house (not exactly the facts, another hoofprint of the devil). David knows the cursing is unjust, yet doesn't retaliate, hoping that God will notice and bless him instead.
16:15-23.
Ahithophel's counsel to sleep with David's remaining concubines fulfills one of the judgments of God against David for sinning with Bathsheba in secret. God is using the rebellion of Absalom, the ingratitude and faithlessness of Israel, and the schemes of Satan to bring about His purposes, and fulfill His promise to judge David for His sin.
Application
There is no limit to what God can do, or whom He can use to bring about His purposes. People can bless or curse, but God orchestrates everything to give us the consequences we've earned.
Prayer
God, let me not put undue confidence in friends, nor fail to learn the lessons You intend from my enemies; in all, may I recognize Your hand at work. Amen.
2 Samuel 17 Conflicting Counsel
1.Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Let me now choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight.2.I will come on him while he is weary and exhausted, and will make him afraid. All the people who are with him shall flee. I will strike the king only;3.and I will bring back all the people to you. The man whom you seek is as if all returned. All the people shall be in peace."4.The saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.5.Then Absalom said, "Now call Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he says."6.When Hushai had come to Absalom, Absalom spoke to him, saying, "Ahithophel has spoken like this. Shall we do what he says? If not, speak up."7.Hushai said to Absalom, "The counsel that Ahithophel has given this time is not good."8.Hushai said moreover, "You know your father and his men, that they are mighty men, and they are fierce in their minds, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Your father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.9.Behold, he is now hidden in some pit, or in some other place. It will happen, when some of them have fallen at the first, that whoever hears it will say, ‘There is a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom!’10.Even he who is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, will utterly melt; for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and those who are with him are valiant men.11.But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together to you, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that you go to battle in your own person.12.So shall we come on him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light on him as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men who are with him we will not leave so much as one.13.Moreover, if he be gone into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there isn’t one small stone found there."14.Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel." For Yahweh had purposed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that Yahweh might bring evil on Absalom.15.Then Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, "Ahithophel counseled Absalom and the elders of Israel that way; and I have counseled this way.16.Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, ‘Don’t lodge this night at the fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people who are with him.’"17.Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying by En Rogel; and a female servant used to go and tell them; and they went and told king David. For they might not be seen to come into the city.18.But a boy saw them, and told Absalom. Then they both went away quickly, and came to the house of a man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court; and they went down there.19.The woman took and spread the covering over the well’s mouth, and spread out bruised grain on it; and nothing was known.20.Absalom’s servants came to the woman to the house; and they said, "Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?" The woman said to them, "They have gone over the brook of water." When they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.21.It happened, after they had departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David; and they said to David, "Arise and pass quickly over the water; for thus has Ahithophel counseled against you."22.Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they passed over the Jordan. By the morning light there lacked not one of them who had not gone over the Jordan.23.When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, and arose, and went home, to his city, and set his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died, and was buried in the tomb of his father.24.Then David came to Mahanaim. Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.25.Absalom set Amasa over the army instead of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man, whose name was Ithra the Israelite, who went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.26.Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.27.It happened, when David had come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,28.brought beds, basins, earthen vessels, wheat, barley, meal, parched grain, beans, lentils, roasted grain,29.honey, butter, sheep, and cheese of the herd, for David, and for the people who were with him, to eat: for they said, "The people are hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness."
Observations
17:1-14.Despite the fact that Ahithophel's counsel was like “an oracle of God” (16:24), Hushai is able to overturn it as David prayed. This was because God was working out His plan to bring judgment upon Absalom, who didn't bother to inquire of God.
17:15-22.
Reminiscent of Rahab's hiding of the spies, David's spies get protection as well, and so do David and his men.
17:23.
Ahithophel probably foresaw that since his counsel was not followed, Absalom would be defeated, and those who deserted David to aid him were as good as dead.
17:24.
Absalom and all Israel went after David, according to Hushai's “bad” counsel. David gets blessed in finding loyal support from Machir and others who had sheltered Mephibosheth when David showed hesed to him for Jonathan's sake (9:4).
Application
God is able to overturn the wise plans of men to bring about His purposes, so it makes sense to seek His counsel first and foremost.
Prayer
God, thanks that You can guide me toward what's best, and thwart the plans of the wicked. Amen.
Digging Deeper
God in a nutshell: God can and does use multiple means to carry out His purposes to bless righteous behavior and punish wrongdoers, even though they may be His most choice servants. In the midst of judgment, He shows mercy, and raises up faithful people to bless and unfaithful people to curse. He orchestrates the free will choices of people to bring about His promised consequences. He overturns the counsel of the wise and adds persuasiveness to the lips of His servants to move people toward His desired ends.
Us in a nutshell: We reap what we sow; we lose when we fail to obediently do God's will, and we win when we obediently trust Him, even when reaping judgment for past sin. Failing to take proper action is as bad as actively doing what's wrong (sins of omission and commission). If we deceive and rebel against God's authority, we're doing Satan's will, and we can't possibly win in the long run, although in the short term appearances can be deceiving.