seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Samuel 15:13 A messenger came and told David, “The hearts of the people of Israel are with Absalom.”
14 Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, “Come! We must flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately, or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin on us and put the city to the sword.”
15 The king’s officials answered him, “Your servants are ready to do whatever our lord the king chooses.”
16 The king set out, with his entire household following him; but he left ten concubines to take care of the palace. 17 So the king set out, with all the people following him, and they halted at the edge of the city. 18 All his men marched past him, along with all the Kerethites and Pelethites; and all the six hundred Gittites who had accompanied him from Gath marched before the king.
19 The king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why should you come along with us? Go back and stay with King Absalom. You are a foreigner, an exile from your homeland. 20 You came only yesterday. And today shall I make you wander about with us, when I do not know where I am going? Go back, and take your people with you. May the Lord show you kindness and faithfulness.”
21 But Ittai replied to the king, “As surely as the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be.”
22 David said to Ittai, “Go ahead, march on.” So Ittai the Gittite marched on with all his men and the families that were with him.
23 The whole countryside wept aloud as all the people passed by. The king also crossed the Kidron Valley, and all the people moved on toward the wilderness.
24 Zadok was there, too, and all the Levites who were with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. They set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until all the people had finished leaving the city.
25 Then the king said to Zadok, “Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the Lord’s eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again. 26 But if he says, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him.”
27 The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Do you understand? Go back to the city with my blessing. Take your son Ahimaaz with you, and also Abiathar’s son Jonathan. You and Abiathar return with your two sons. 28 I will wait at the fords in the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” 29 So Zadok and Abiathar took the ark of God back to Jerusalem and stayed there.
30 But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went; his head was covered and he was barefoot. All the people with him covered their heads too and were weeping as they went up. 31 Now David had been told, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David prayed, “Lord, turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness.”
32 When David arrived at the summit, where people used to worship God, Hushai the Arkite was there to meet him, his robe torn and dust on his head. 33 David said to him, “If you go with me, you will be a burden to me. 34 But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘Your Majesty, I will be your servant; I was your father’s servant in the past, but now I will be your servant,’ then you can help me by frustrating Ahithophel’s advice. 35 Won’t the priests Zadok and Abiathar be there with you? Tell them anything you hear in the king’s palace. 36 Their two sons, Ahimaaz son of Zadok and Jonathan son of Abiathar, are there with them. Send them to me with anything you hear.”
37 So Hushai, David’s confidant, arrived at Jerusalem as Absalom was entering the city.
Here's a link to the commentary I read.The king left ten women, concubines, to keep the house: David thought — and had reason to think — that these ten woman could be safely left behind. He felt he needed someone to look after the house.
Sadly, this also tells us that David had at least ten concubines. A concubine was essentially a legal mistress. In addition to David’s many wives, this shows that David was a man who sometimes indulged his passions instead of restraining them in a godly way.
David went up the Ascent of the Mount of Olives: When Jesus went from the Last Supper to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray, He essentially traced these same steps of David. Both David and Jesus suffered for sin, but Jesus suffered for our sins and David suffered for his own.
Turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness: David knew that Ahithophel was normally a good advisor, but he prayed that he would give foolish counsel to Absalom.
Then you may defeat the counsel of Ahithophel for me: David sent his other aide Hushai back to Jerusalem to frustrate Ahithophel’s counsel to Absalom.
At the end of the commentary, there's a slick comparison between David, Absolom, and Jesus concerning Jerusalem. I'll let you go see for yourself.So, some people thought that David was not capable of running Israel anymore. Some people thought his son Absalom, that pretty boy heir, would be better for them now. Absalom had been working in the courts, saying "now if I were king, I would have done it this way".
Pretty boy heir Absalom had the luxury of being able to say anything he wanted. He wasn't king. He didn't have to be responsible. All he had to do was sit there and look beautiful while siding with the other side.
David knew Absalom was cold hearted. He didn't want the people of Jerusalem, or for that matter all of Israel, to suffer. So, he "in affect" abdicated the throne in Jerusalem to Absalom. He did it for the people. He assigned ten of his whores to watch over the palace and took off with everyone else to the wilderness.
It just occurred to me, Jacob, [Joseph's father] didn't lift a finger when his boys told him Joseph was dead. Jacob and David acted the same way in family affairs. They didn't correct their sons. Some sons need a good whooping.... but they didn't get one.
David could live in a cave, if that's what God had in store for him. He didn't want Jerusalem put to the sword over what was really a family matter. His son was taking over. David had to abdicate to save the city and everyone in it.
Now, just a day or two before this happened, a guy named Hushai the Arkite arrived in Jerusalem. He was loyal to David.
Meanwhile, David's son Absalon had his own advisor, Ahithophel. Ahithophel had been David's trusted advisor... but he turned coat and was loyal to Absalom now.
So David asked Hushai the Arkite to go back to Jerusalem, and spy on Absalom and Ahithophel. David asked Hushai the Arkite to be the opposing advisor for Absalom. That way Hushai could skew up whatever counsel Ahithophel offered and let David know what was going on.
Hushai the Arkite would be David's eyes and ears on the inside.
Boring....
David left ten whores and a spy behind.
