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2 Samuel
Chapter Fifteen
2 Samuel 15
Chapter Contents
Absalom's ambition. (1-6) His conspiracy. (7-12) David
leaves Jerusalem. (13-23) David sends back the ark. (24-30) He prays against
Ahithophel's counsel. (31-37)
Commentary on 2 Samuel 15:1-6
(Read 2 Samuel 15:1-6)
David allows Absalom's pomp. Those parents know not what
they do
who indulge a proud humour in their children: many young people are
ruined by pride. And those commonly are most eager for authority who least
understand its duties.
Commentary on 2 Samuel 15:7-12
(Read 2 Samuel 15:7-12)
See how willing tender parents are to believe the best
concerning their children. But how easy and how wicked is it
for children to
take advantage of good parents
and to deceive them with the show of religion!
The principal men of Jerusalem joined Absalom's feast upon his sacrifice. Pious
persons are glad to see others appear religious
and this gives occasion for
deceptions. The policy of wicked men
and the subtlety of Satan
are exerted to
draw good persons to countenance base designs.
Commentary on 2 Samuel 15:13-23
(Read 2 Samuel 15:13-23)
David determined to quit Jerusalem. He took this resolve
as a penitent submitting to the rod. Before unrighteous Absalom he could
justify himself
and stand out; but before the righteous God he must condemn
himself
and yield to his judgments. Thus he accepts the punishment of his sin.
And good men
when they themselves suffer
are anxious that others should not
be led to suffer with them. He compelled none; those whose hearts were with
Absalom
to Absalom let them go
and so shall their doom be. Thus Christ
enlists none but willing followers. David cannot bear to think that Ittai
a
stranger and an exile
a proselyte and a new convert
who ought to be
encouraged and made easy
should meet with hard usage. But such value has Ittai
for David's wisdom and goodness
that he will not leave him. He is a friend
indeed
who loves at all times
and will adhere to us in adversity. Let us
cleave to the Son of David
with full purpose of heart
and neither life nor
death shall separate us from his love.
Commentary on 2 Samuel 15:24-30
(Read 2 Samuel 15:24-30)
David is very careful for the safety of the ark. It is
right to be more concerned for the church's prosperity than our own; to prefer
the success of the gospel above our own wealth
credit
ease
and safety.
Observe with what satisfaction and submission David speaks of the Divine
disposal. It is our interest
as well as our duty
cheerfully to acquiesce in
the will of God
whatever befalls us. 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. David's sin was ever before him
Psalm 51:3; but never so plain
nor ever
appearing so black as now. He never wept thus when Saul hunted him
but a
wounded conscience makes troubles lie heavy
Psalm 38:4.
Commentary on 2 Samuel 15:31-37
(Read 2 Samuel 15:31-37)
David prays not against Ahithophel's person
but against
his counsel. He prayed this
in firm belief that God has all hearts in his
hand
and tongues also. But we must second our prayers with endeavours
and
David did so
else we tempt God. But we do not find wisdom and simplicity so
united in any mere man
that we can perceive nothing which needs forgiveness.
Yet
when the Son of David was treated with all possible treachery and cruelty
his wisdom
meekness
candour
and patience
were perfect. Him let us follow
cleave to
and serve
in life and in death.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 2 Samuel》
2 Samuel 15
Verse 1
[1] And
it came to pass after this
that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses
and
fifty men to run before him.
Prepared — As
being the king's eldest son
now Amnon was dead; for Chileab
who was his
eldest brother
2 Samuel 3:3
was either dead
or incapable of
the government. And this course he knew would draw the eyes of the people to
him
and make them conclude that David intended him for his successor.
Verse 2
[2] And Absalom rose up early
and stood beside the way of the gate: and it
was so
that when any man that had a controversy came 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.
Early —
Thereby making a shew of solicitude for the good of the public
and of every
private person.
Called him —
Preventing him with the offers of his assistance. And as if he were ready to
make particular enquiry into the state of his cause.
Verse 3
[3] And
Absalom said unto him
See
thy matters are good and right; but there is no man
deputed of the king to hear thee.
See —
Upon some very slight hearing of their cause
he approved it
that he might
oblige all.
No man —
None such as will do thee justice. The other sons and relations of the king
and the rest of the judges and rulers under him and them
are wholly corrupted;
or
at least not careful and diligent as they should be: and my father being
grown in years
is negligent of publick affairs. It is the way of turbulent
aspiring men
to reproach the government they are under. Even David himself
the best of kings
could not escape the worst of censures.
Verse 7
[7] And
it came to pass after forty years
that Absalom said unto the king
I pray
thee
let me go and pay my vow
which I have vowed unto the LORD
in Hebron.
After forty years —
From the change of the government
into a monarchy
which was about ten years
before David began to reign. So this fell out about the thirtieth year of his
reign.
Verse 9
[9] And the king said unto him
Go in peace. So he arose
and went to Hebron.
Hebron —
This place he chose as being an eminent city
and next to Jerusalem
the chief
of the tribe of Judah
and the place where his father began his kingdom
which
he took for a good omen. And where it is probable he had secured many friends.
It was also at a convenient distance from Jerusalem.
Verse 11
[11] And
with Absalom went two hundred men out of Jerusalem
that were called; and they
went in their simplicity
and they knew not any thing.
Called —
Such as Absalom had picked out as fit for his purpose; such as were of some
reputation with the king and people
which would give a countenance to his
undertaking
and give occasion to people at first to think that this was done
by his father's consent
as being now aged
and infirm
and willing to resign
the kingdom to him. It is no new thing
for good men to be made use of by
designing men to put a colour upon ill practices.
Verse 12
[12] And
Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite
David's counsellor
from his city
even from Giloh
while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy was strong;
for the people increased continually with Absalom.
Sacrifices —
Which he did not in devotion to God; but merely that upon this pretence he
might call great numbers of people together.
Verse 14
[14] And
David said unto all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem
Arise
and
let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom: make speed to depart
lest he overtake us suddenly
and bring evil upon us
and smite the city with
the edge of the sword.
Let us flee —
For though the fort of Zion was strong
and he might have defended himself
there; yet he had not laid in provisions for a long siege; and
if he had been
once besieged there
Absalom would have got speedy possession of his whole
kingdom; whereas if he marched abroad
he might raise a considerable army for
his defence. Besides
the greatest part of Jerusalem could not be well defended
against him.
Verse 16
[16] And
the king went forth
and all his household after him. And the king left ten
women
which were concubines
to keep the house.
After him —
Or
on foot
which the king chose to do
to humble himself under the hand of
God; to encourage his companions in this hard and comfortless march; and to
move compassion in his people towards him.
Concubines —
For he supposed that their sex would protect them
and their relation to David
would gain them some respect
or at least
safety from his son.
Verse 17
[17] And
the king went forth
and all the people after him
and tarried in a place that
was far off.
Far off — At
some convenient distance
tho' not very far.
Verse 18
[18] And
all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites
and all the
Pelethites
and all the Gittites
six hundred men which came after him from
Gath
passed on before the king.
Gittites — Or
rather strangers
as Ittai their head is called
verse 19
and they are called his brethren
verse 20. Probably they were Philistines by birth
born in the city or territory of Gath
as the following words imply
who by
David's counsel
and example
were won to embrace the true religion
and had
given good proof of their military skill
and valour
and fidelity to the king.
Verse 19
[19] Then
said the king to Ittai the Gittite
Wherefore goest thou also with us? return
to thy place
and abide with the king: for thou art a stranger
and also an
exile.
Thy place — To
Jerusalem
where thy settled abode now is.
The king — With
Absalom who is now made king.
An exile —
Not much concerned in our affairs
and therefore not fit to be involved in our
troubles.
Verse 20
[20]
Whereas thou camest but yesterday
should I this day make thee go up and down
with us? seeing I go whither I may
return thou
and take back thy brethren:
mercy and truth be with thee.
Brethren —
Thy countrymen the Gittites
verse 18.
Mercy
… —
Since I am now unable to recompense thy kindness and fidelity to me
my hearty
prayer to God is
that he would shew to thee his mercy
in blessing thee with
all sorts of blessings
and his faithfulness in making good all these promises
which he had made
not to Israelites only
but to all true hearted proselytes
such as thou art.
Verse 21
[21] And
Ittai answered the king
and said
As the LORD liveth
and as my lord the king
liveth
surely in what place my lord the king shall be
whether in death or
life
even there also will thy servant be.
Will thy servant be — He
is a friend indeed
who loves at all times
and will cleave to us in adversity.
Thus should we cleave to the Son of David
that neither life
nor death may
separate us from his love.
Verse 22
[22] And
David said to Ittai
Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over
and
all his men
and all the little ones that were with him.
Little ones —
For being so deeply engaged for David
he durst not leave his little ones to
Absalom's mercy.
Verse 23
[23] And
all the country wept with a loud voice
and all the people passed over: the
king also himself passed over the brook Kidron
and all the people passed over
toward the way of the wilderness.
Kidron —
Or
Cedron
which was near Jerusalem. The very same brook that Christ passed
over when he entered upon his sufferings
John 18:1.
Wilderness —
Which was between Jerusalem and Jericho.
Verse 24
[24] And
lo Zadok also
and all the Levites were with him
bearing the ark of the covenant
of God: and they set down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up
until all the
people had done passing out of the city.
Went up —
From the ark to the city
which was on higher ground
that so he being
high-priest
might use his authority with the people
to persuade them to do
their duty; and there he staid until all those whom he could persuade were gone
forth.
Verse 25
[25] And
the king said unto Zadok
Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall
find favour in the eyes of the LORD
he will bring me again
and shew me both
it
and his habitation:
Carry back —
Out of care and reverence to the ark
which though it might be carried our to a
certain place; yet he might justly think unfit to carry it from place to place
he knew not whither
and out of respect to the priests
whom
by this means
he
thought he should expose to the rage of Absalom
as he had before exposed them
to Saul's fury.
Habitation —
That is
the tabernacle which David had lately built for it
chap. 6:17
in which the ark
and God
by means
hereof
ordinarily dwelt.
Verse 26
[26] But
if he thus say
I have no delight in thee; behold
here am I
let him do to me
as seemeth good unto him.
Let him do —
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.
Verse 27
[27] The
king said also unto Zadok the priest
Art not thou a seer? return into the city
in peace
and your two sons with you
Ahimaaz thy son
and Jonathan the son of
Abiathar.
A seer — A
seeing
discerning
or observing man: for so the Hebrew verb raah is often
used. And this suits well with David's mind: Thou art a wise man
and therefore
fit to manage this great business
which requires prudence and secrecy.
Verse 30
[30] And
David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet
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.
Barefoot — In
testimony of his deep sorrow
and humiliation and shame for his sins.
Verse 34
[34] But
if thou return to the city
and say unto Absalom
I will be thy servant
O
king; as I have been thy father's servant hitherto
so will I now also be thy
servant: then mayest thou for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel.
And say —
That is
as faithful to thee
as I have been to thy father. David's suggesting
this crafty counsel must be reckoned amongst his sins. Nevertheless God was
pleased to direct this evil advice to a good end.
Verse 36
[36]
Behold
they have there with them their two sons
Ahimaaz Zadok's son
and
Jonathan Abiathar's son; and by them ye shall send unto me every thing that ye
can hear.
There —
Not in Jerusalem
but in a place near it
to which they could easily send upon
occasion.
Verse 37
[37] So
Hushai David's friend came into the city
and Absalom came into Jerusalem.
Absalom came
… —
How soon do royal cities and royal palaces change their masters? But we look
for a kingdom which cannot be moved.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 2
Samuel》
15 Chapter 15
Verses 1-12
Verses 1-37
Absalom prepared him chariots and horses
and fifty men to run
before him.
Absalom; or
the fast young man
The Bible resembles a portrait gallery adorned with the faces of
remarkable historic men
where every variety of feature and every type of
character may be found. An imaginative person
visiting such a gallery
and
gazing at the silent faces which look down upon him from the walls
until lost
in the thoughts and reflections awakened by them
may fancy at length that they
are alive. As we study the characters of the people there portrayed
we
recognise in them permanent
types of different classes. As such they live
again to us. We have known such persons; they have lived in our time; they have
acted anew the parts
and displayed the qualities which of old distinguished or
disgraced them. They reappear in every age. It is this typical character of the
Bible that gives such value to this ancient book. In reading it
we forget that
it is an old book. It seems a new book
from exhibiting the latest phases of
human conduct
from setting before us moral qualities and actions which we
recognise as familiar
and
connecting with them timely lessons for our
instruction and warning. Such reflections are awakened by the perusal of the
story of Absalom. It is a typical story
and he was a typical character and
representative of what is called the fast young man.
I. It teaches the
vanity of personal beauty and outward show apart from moral worth. In the
pictures of Hogarth
and other painters of society
we find that such superior beauty
is the common heritage of the fast young man. It has been called a “fatal
dower.” It is so regarded because it is apt to make the possessor the petted
darling of parents and friends
and liable to be spoiled by the thoughtless
admiration and flattery lavished upon him. Thus an exaggerated estimate is
placed upon mere physical charms. Beauty of face and form is set above the higher
excellence of character
whereby vanity and frivolity of mind are engendered
and amiability of disposition and goodness of heart sacrificed. But there is
truth in the homely adage that “Handsome is who handsome does
” and all beauty
which is not united with fair doing is only a poor sham.
II. The story of
Absalom reveals the type of character that is most dangerous and dreadful. His
was not an impulsive nature
hurried away by gusts of passion into sin. There
is much allowance to be made for such hot-tempered spirits. The misdemeanours
of which they are guilty are not
as a rule so reprehensible as those which are
perpetrated by their authors in cold blood. They are more likely than the
latter to be only escapades from virtue--exceptions to a course that is
ordinarily straightforward and well-meaning. Absalom’s wickedness was
deliberate and studied. His character is evinced in the way he avenged the
outrage done by Amnon to his sister.
III. This fast young
man
of desperate type
becomes an intriguing politician. Absalom is the
earliest specimen on record
we believe
of a finished demagogue. As we
consider the subtle arts by which he courted popularity and wound himself into
the favour of men--his attendance at the gate
where the king’s judgment seat
was
his affability and condescension towards the people who brought causes for
adjudication
and his pretended sympathy for their grievances on account of the
delay of justice
we seem to have come upon the original model after which the
modern opposition candidate has shaped himself It agrees with the character to
be forever arraigning those in power for neglect of duty and malfeasance in
office
and to promise a complete reformation in case the party of the critic
is entrusted with the conduct of affairs. When the outs are in
and the ins are
out
all wrong shall be righted
and the millennium will come. So Absalom
laboured to make the flattered people believe.
IV. Another aspect
in which Absalom appears is that of a wayward
undutiful son. The fast young
man causes agonising heartache to his aged father or distressed mother. In the
eyes of the Jews
with their traditions of the patriarchal period and its form
of government
where the father was both priest and ruler of his household
such a child was a monster of depravity
worthy only of death. Hence the
emphasis put upon the fifth commandment
“the first commandment with promise;”
hence the sternness of their legislation with respect to unfilial conduct
and
the fearful denunciation their proverbs utter against it. “The eye that mocketh
at his father
” says Agur
“and despiseth to obey his mother
the ravens of the
valley shall pick it out
and the young eagles shall eat it.”
V. The story of
Absalom contains another lesson
without which it would be incomplete
namely
the lesson of sin’s retribution. It is a striking example of the declaration:
“As righteousness tendeth to life
so he that pursueth evil
pursueth it to his
own death.” The last act of the tragedy is short and impressive. David and his
adherents stayed not in their flight until they found shelter behind the walls
of Mahanaim
in the land of Gilead. There opportunity was given to recover from
panic
and organise their strength; and thither Absalom and his forces
leisurely pursued them. (A. H. Charlton.)
David and Absalom
I. In how many
ways men serve themselves in serving others.
1. We may serve ourselves
strengthen our position
advance our
temporal interests
when we are truly serving others
But when we are doing
them disservice
encouraging them
helping them
to evil
we are our own
enemies as well as theirs. We have something higher than temporal interests to
think of. Gold is far from everything. In the protest of conscience how the
fine gold becomes dim! And when conscience is seared
and the heat dead to all
sensibility
at what a cost has anything
how-ever desired by men
been
secured.
2. We truly befriend ourselves by unselfishly serving others. And
this we can do as we make everything a Divine service. Sometimes we may seem on
the vanquished side
like true-hearted Ittai
staunch to David in his flight
but the end will justify us. To be on the side of honesty
truth
purity
is
ever at the last to be on the side that wins. So he who forgets himself in
doing the things right in the sight of God will be vindicated in the sight of
the world as “good and faithful servant
” as having “well done” for himself as well
as others.
II. In absalom we
see how the motive determines the value of conduct. This appears in his bearing
towards Amnon. Similarly with Absalom’s conduct when seeking to ingratiate
himself with the people. The animating motive of what we do should be tested by
us. Could we read others as God reads us
could we “look at the heart” as He
does
with what rejection would we meet much that is now welcomed by us! But if
we cannot appraise the lives of others by their motives
and if they cannot
thus appraise ours
there is One ever thus testing us. There is One who pierces
every mask of hypocrisy. There is One who looks through our outward appearance
of truth
purity
devotion
and sees whether there is a corresponding inward
reality. With Him the motive makes the act.
III. In Absalom we
see to what cruel lengths unchecked ambition will lead a man. That was his
ruling passion; the explanation
I think
of his long-delayed stroke at Amnon.
Ambition goaded Absalom from crime to crime till lie had wrapped the land in
the horrors of civil war--of all wars the most prolific in misery--and nerved
him to assail a father’s life that he might
over his dead body
step up into
the throne. It win not do for us to say that in all this there is no beacon to
us. There are many thrones. Some of us
it may be
eager to get into one--to be
over others; kings and queens of influence in our little kingdom. There can be
ambition in a cottage as well as in a court. There may be wretched envy
the
evil eyeing of an imagined rival
the wicked gladness that hears
and that with
pretended reluctance retails the disparaging slander; the sty persistence that
insinuates itself
or the rough resolution that tramples its way into the petty
throne. God save us from such ambition! In His kingdom the thrones are for the
lowly.
IV. In David we see
the threatened punishment for his sin. Penitent for his great wickedness in the
matter of Uriah
his life had been spared
but the sword was not to depart from
his house. Sin has broken him
even forgiven sin. A thing to be remembered. He
may never have been wisely firm enough in the training of his children. But
that feel transgression of his loosened the filial bond that bound his children
to obedience
and encouraged them to crimes that laid his kingly head in the
dust. Sin finds men out
even godly men. “Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he
also reap.” He who sows to the flesh
though he be a David
shall of the flesh
reap corruption. Well
then
for us to “stand in awe and sin not.”
V. In the darkness
of calamity the better David shines to us. In the bowed
barefooted man weeping
his way across the Kedron
and up Olivet
it is a king we see. It is David
again. A Divine permission he recognises in all that is befalling him. He has
no superstitious trust in the ark--let Zadok and Abiathar carry it back to
Jerusalem. In God was his trust. “Let Him do to me as seemeth good unto Him.”
So on--one of the most pathetic figures of all history--goes weeping David-on
towards the plains of the wilderness. And as he passes out of our sight do you
not hear such words as these? Sorrow by sin! Peace by pardon! Blessed is the
man whose transgression is forgiven! “Blessed are they that mourn
for they
shall be comforted.” (G. J. Coster.)
Absalom: a study
Untrained
except in self-admiration and self-indulgence
imperious
ambitious
quick to take offence and slow to forgive
hot with the
riot of youthful blood
the young man--so fathered
so mothered
so brought
up--is suddenly flung upon the world
and exposed to the temptations of a court
in which the Uriah and Bathsheba scandal is being discussed in all its forms
and incidents. And the first grave adventure he meets in it is the intolerable
wrong and shame inflicted on his beautiful sister by the heir to the throne! Will
not the king avenge so dreadful a crime? No; David is very wroth with Amnon
but does not care “to vex his spirit
because he is his first-born.” By all
Eastern as well as by Hebrew law
then
public justice having failed
Absalom
is the goel
the avenger of his sister; it is no crime
bug a duty
to wipe out
her shame with blood. But as David will not “vex the spirit of Amnon
his
son”--and there is a world of weak unfatherliness in that fatherly phrase--so
neither will he suffer it to be vexed. Hence Absalom is left to brood over the
wrong in silence for a couple of years
till
by a treacherous ruse
he makes
way for his revenge
and Amnon is stabbed as he sits at his brother’s table and
drinks his brother’s wine. We blame the deed
and
above all
the manner of the
deed: but can we very severely blame the man? Not if we remember what the wrong
was which he avenged
and how the world has always allowed a certain latitude
to the avenger of such wrongs. Not if we remember that the justice
which the king
ought to have been forward to execute
had been deliberately refused
and how
imperative were the duties imposed on the goel both by Eastern custom and
Hebrew law. Amnon was his half-brother
indeed--a thought which might well have
given him pause; but have we yet to learn that brothers born in the harem are
born enemies
rivals from the first to the last? And it was not Absalom’s fault
that harem manners and jealousies had been introduced into Israel. If “beauty
is a gift
” “beauty is also a snare.” To few has the gift been so largely
accorded as to Absalom; to few has it proved a snare so deadly. In him the
personal comeliness and vigour of Jesse’s line seems to have culminated. Of
Absalom we are told simply that his beauty was without blemish and beyond
compare; but it seems probable that it may have been of that rare type in the
Hebrew race which stirs even them to an unwonted admiration. It may have been
because of his rare and superb beauty that
while still a child
he was celled
Absalom
“father of peace
” though he proved to be a “father of strife” rather
than of peace; for it may not unnaturally have been thought that a child so
exceptionally lovely would kindle smiles and win a kindly welcome wherever he
went. It adds the last touch to our conception of his beauty if we note that it
sprang from the most vigorous physical health
as his magnificent fell of hair
indicates. For
then
we can only think of him as quick with life and energy
and accomplished in all the exercises of peace and of war. Now if we think of
this young prince with his hereditary bias
his defective training
never
taught to rule or deny himself
coming out into a lax world--tall
graceful
strong
his blue eyes swimming in light
his fair locks failing thickly on his
broad shoulders--we shall understand that his very beauty may have been a fatal
gift to him. Met with smiles
welcome
and an easy compliance with his whims
and desires
on every hand
hardly any one saying “No” to him
he never saying
“No” to himself
what wonder if he became wilful
bold
insolent? What wonder
if
his will once thwarted
he should kindle into a blaze; or
If he hid his
fire
he should nurse and feed it till it found vent
and swept him beyond all
bounds of law and duty? Is it not plain that position
training
temperament
habits
gifts
even the gift of beauty
all worked together to make him
self-willed
capricious
restless
imperious
and
if crossed
violent and
revengeful? Even in the brief space he occupies in the Sacred Record
we have
many proofs that there was something reckless and desperate in the man
that he
was apt to throw the reins on the neck of his lusts
and let them carry him
where they would. That David and his men had some such suspicion of him
that
they held him to be at least capable of an excessive and criminal violence in
order to serve his ends
is proved by the fact that whoa an exaggerated report
of Amnon’s assassination reached them
when they were told
“Absalom hath slain
all the king’s sons
there is not one of them left
” they found nothing
incredible in the horrible rumour
but rent their clothes and cast themselves
on the earth
and wept for the goodly young men cut off in their prime (2 Samuel 13:30-31.) If the tale were
not true
it was only too likely to have been true. A touch of the same
recklessness and desperation comes out in the manner in which he jogged the
drowsy memory of Joab (2 Samuel 14:23.) It was by the
intervention of Joab that Absalom was called back to Jerusalem from his three
years’ banishment in Syria. It was on Joab’s intercession that he relied for an
entire reconciliation with the king
who for two years after his return
refused to see his face. Joab may have been doing his best
or he may not. In
any case he did not move fast enough for the imperious prince. He sends for
Joab
therefore; but
Joab having no good tidings to give him
will not come.
He sends a second time
and still Joab will not come. Whereupon he sends
servants into Joab’s farm to fire his standing barley
and so compels the old
warrior to wait upon him
and to listen to his complaint that he would rather
die than continue to live such a life as his. But
of course
it
was in his
long-planned and artfully prepared rebellion against his father and king that
all that was vehement
self-willed
unrestrained in the man found full vent.
With Absalom’s tragic end the bolt of retribution flew right home. And yet the
pity of it! For
had Absalom been reared as hardily and piously as David was
in the home and on the hills of Bethlehem; had he been snubbed
laughed at
kept down
as David was
by a band of tall
stalwart brothers; had he
like
David
been tried by stroke on stroke of adversity and undeserved reproach
through all the opening years of manhood
there seems little reason to doubt
that he might have been no worse a man morally than his father was; or
at
least
no room to doubt that
by such a severe and pious training in duty and
obedience
he might have been saved from the crimes by which his life was
stained
and from the shame by which his memory is oppressed. In him
too
the
spiritual man might have conquered the natural man at the last
and stilled and
controlled the fever of his blood. As it is
we can but use his name “to point
a moral
” for we can hardly add “and to adorn a tale.” And that moral is
of
course
the immense danger of suffering the animal man in us to overget the
spiritual man. The bias of our blood and temperament may not jump with his; our
training may have been better than his; our faults
our passions
our gifts
may not resemble his; and certainly we arc not
most of us tempted to an
indolent self-indulgence and self-will by a splendour of personal beauty and
charm which makes it hard for any one to resist us. And yet no one who knows
himself will doubt that the brute is strong in him; that he
too
has inherited
cravings
passions
lusts
which must be subdued if he is to be saved from sins
as fatal
if not as flagrant
as those of Absalom. And the flesh is not to be
subdued and starved in any of us save as we feed and cherish the spirit. We can
only overcome evil as we follow after that which is good. But if we seek to subdue the flesh by
nourishing the spirit
whether in ourselves or in our children
He who makes
large allowance for us all will largely and effectively help us all. (S.
Cox
D. D.)
Absalom’s rebellion
The monument to Absalom in the valley of the Kidron is buried deep
in stones
cast against it by the Jews
as through generations they have
passed
in token of their execration of this unatural prince--the counterpart
in the Old Testament
of Judas in the New. These stones are the true monument
of Absalom. Let us add our tribute to make it a prominent and permanent
landmark in religious history. This instructive example is held up before us in
great detail. It is a warning
especially to young men. The methods by which it
was secured are carefully stated. The instance is particular; but the
application is as general as mankind.
I. Absalom
perverted his natural advantages. He was a gifted and handsome young man; he
came of a well-favoured stock
and he was its flower. He had a fine head of hair; he paid
strict attention to it. It became a matter of national interest when Absalom
cut his hair. He had a sheep-farm. We do not know the particulars of his clip
of wool; but the weight of his annual poll of hair is carefully noted as two
hundred shekels
or more than three pounds. The hair of Absalom represents all
natural advantages. For personal gifts play an important part in securing
success in this world.
II. Absalom had a
perverse energy of character. He had persistency of purpose in a high degree--a
masterful trait. He was calculating and deep. He was a tenacious man. Many men
of fine powers fail through want of tenacity. The good man in the famous ode of
Horace was tenacious of his purpose. So our bad man
Absalom
did not fail
here. When Amnon wronged his sister Tamar he concealed his resentment for two
years. He bided his time. When he determined to undermine David’s throne he
showed a like steadfastness of resolution. He rose promptly in the morning.
David rose early to pray; Absalom rose early to plot. This course of patient
insidious plotting Absalom continued for months
perhaps for years
until he
was known throughout the kingdom as the poor man’s friend.
III. Absalom
perverted the study of human nature. He studied the weaknesses of men. This is
called by men of his base aims the study of men. The vices and the foibles are
noted; the theory being that for one who would play effectively on this fine
instrument what is especially necessary is a Wagnerian mastery of discords. The
adventurer
the opposition politician
the quack doctor
the fortune-seeker
give themselves to men have succeeded as Absalom succeeded--in politics
in
professional life
in Absalom’s study of human weakness. Upon this knowledge
their success depends.
IV. Absalom had
unlimited and perverted self-assurance. With all his shrewdness in measuring
others
he had no proper sense of his own weaknesses. To scrutinise the
weaknesses of others he closed
so to speak
one eye--that one whose outlook
was upon his own heart. Exaggerated self-confidence is typical of this class of
men. To the ordinary man with his misgiving and fear of himself it is
surprising
dazzling. His own modesty prepares him to yield to the most
audacious and preposterous claims of another. Perhaps the wonderful physician
can work a cure of the incurable. He says he can. And what hair he hast Perhaps
the politician can redress the evils of society which have baffled the wisest
statesmen. He says he can. He is a remarkable-looking man. Perhaps one can be
safely given a place of trust
though it would seem as if he can have had no
experience to fit him for its delicate duties. He says he is competent. There
is a degree
and
it is an amazing degree oftentimes
to which men will give
confidence to bare pretension. Absalom’s pretension was most shrewdly
calculated.
V. Absalom
Perverted The Choice Of Counsellors. He chose sagacious
but evil advisers;
masterly
but unprincipled. Ahithophel was the oddest statesman in the nation.
Absalom improved the opportunity. He sent for Ahithophel. The bad old man came
to him--a man after his own heart. We must recognise the dangerous wisdom of
the councils of this world. This wisdom is necessary to worldly success. If one
heeds it
he greatly increases his prospects of accomplishing all worldly aims.
VI. Absalom
perverted the use of religion. It has been suggested here that when David rose
early to pray he and Absalom may have met. It may be that the crafty prince
first shared his father’s devotions on the way to the gate. He saw the hold
which religion had upon David and upon the nation. It would not answer for him
to have the reputation of being irreligious; he must guard his religious
standing. He made a religious excuse for visiting Hebron. It was a natural one.
He had made a vow
he explained
while he was in Geshur in exile for the murder
of Amnon. It was a nicely-calculated excuse. David believed in vows. He would
look upon the handsome prince with heightened tenderness
touched by his
manifest sensibility. Religion
in all times
is one of the readiest and most
serviceable of cloaks. It especially serves the purposes of one who would win
success in a religious community. Thus Satan comes among us disguised as an
angel of light.
VII. Absalom
studiously secured the support of good men
with the same steady perseverance.
He valued them. They could help him. He wanted the approval of such men at
large in the nation. He despised them. He wanted them only as tools. But he
knew the value to his cause of having men of character associated with
his followers. The rebellion triumphed without a blow. It war one of the best
considered and most brilliant enterprises in history. Absalom seemed to be
repaid for all his self-denial
his unsavoury wiles
his clever hypocrisy
his
long patience. He had reached his goal. He was king. Many society. You may be
tempted to cherish the low aim. But look at Absalom at the goal of his hopes
in tile full flush of success! Even then who would take his place? What had he
accomplished but the fatal perversion of a life capable of greatest things.
Look into his heart
and try to conceive the thoughts which must have been
there in the very exaltation of his triumph. Then look again upon that sombre
background
the forest of Ephraim
the figure of a man dripping with blood from
many wounds
hanging and swaying in the awful twilight in the terebinth tree
suspended by his beautiful hair. Ah! this
then
is a part of what Absalom was
planning--that part of which he was all unconscious
but the inevitable end! Learn
from this history how the noblest gifts may be perverted
industriously
painfully
fatally
to secure the false success. How are you using your life?
your fine natural advantages? How are you treating the privileges of religion?
Who are your chosen counsellors? For what aim of life are you fostering deep
tenacious
self-sacrificing purposes? What a man Absalom might have been with a
right aim I What a man you may become if you set your heart on the one end
worthy of a Son of God--to be a prince of the kingdom of tight; in love and
loyalty and honour
to be one of the pillars of His temple. (Monday
Club
Sermons.)
The rebellion of Absalom
I. Absalom’s
conduct began in the exercise of the basest ingratitude. He assassinated Amnon
at a banquet
and then fled to his grandfather’s city Geshur for a refuge.
There he remained for some years; the popular soldier Joab caused the woman of
Tekoa to go to David with a parable and an entreaty; and the king reluctantly
permitted his son to return to Jerusalem
but he would not meet him in the
palace. That gave Absalom a chance again. And now we have two lessons to learn
at once.
1. One is this: what a man sows he must also reap. David’s boys
divided up David’s crimes between them
and repeated his guilt there under his
own roof. That was an instance of sowing the wind and reaping the whirlwind. It
is wise to remember that harvests are greater than seed.
2. The second lesson is
there is no gain in discipline unless it
leaves behind it a better heart. “Even after a shipwreck
” the old philosopher
Seneca remarks
“there are hosts who still wilt seek the sea.” It is not for
any man to say that affliction sanctifies; of itself it sours a heart which is
not sanctified beforehand. And he has lost much who has lost a discipline at
God’s hand; he has had all the weary pain of it without any of the good; he has
had the roughness of the ploughing without any of the fruit from the furrows.
II. This rebellion
disclosed itself in the mere show of personal vanity. That is the only significance
of such gorgeousness of equipage
and a half a hundred men to run before this
conceited creature Absalom’s chariot. There is not a sign of patriotism in his
course. So here we have another lesson to learn: all true leadership is taught by the discipline
of endurance under fierce distress. It was with David as with Jesus Christ; he
that is to be a Captain of salvation unto God’s people must consent
as our
Divine Saviour consented
to be made “perfect through suffering.”
III. This outbreak
of Absalom was conducted with the hypocrisies of malicious deceit. How
plausibly the man talked; how venomous were his insinuations; how false were
his kisses; yet thus it was that he won the people’s hearts and undermined his
father’s throne. The lesson that comes to us just here is: there can be no
dependence on mere personal advantages unless they are put to a serviceable
use. The record which is familiar to us all reminds us of the old commendations
of Saul in the day when he came out before the people a head and shoulders
above any one of those who cried “God save the king!” We have a kindling
picture of Absalom’s attractions of person and form. The old honest historian
of the Greeks says with a creditable frankness that Themistocles was able to
make his insipid son
Cleophantes
a good horseman
but he failed in every
particular when he endeavoured to make him a good man. And that same failure
has been reached a great many times since.
IV. That this
insurrection was relentlessly continued through a long period of time. Not
“forty years
” surely
as one of the verses seem to say; such a chapter can be
found neither in David’s nor in Absalom’s biography. It is impossible to put
the reckoning anywhere. Josephus states the time
with the authority of the
Syriac and the Arabic version behind him
as being four years instead of forty.
And that is long enough certainly for an ungrateful son to continue
mischievously to plot against his father is so villianous a way. There can be
no value in a noble lineage unless the position is employed nobly. Absalom had
nothing to do with the item of his birth; it would be a credit to him or a
shame according to what he should do with it. Honour and wealth from no
condition rise. The Bible makes short work with primogeniture; in almost every instance the
chieftainship goes away from the sons earliest born. Later history is
suggestive. Cleanthes lived by watering gardens; Pythagoras was the child of a
silversmith; Euripides was brought up to help his brothers till the fields;
Demosthenes was the son of a cutler; Virgil’s father was a potter. There is no
pretension more impertinent than that which is forcing itself forward on the
merits of mere parentage and position:
V. That this wild
rebellion is consummated at last with a lie in the name of religion. This was
at once the meanest and the shrewdest of all Absalom’s subterfuges. In order to
cover his absence from suspicion
and put David off his guard in Jerusalem
he
trumped up this pretext of an old vow. God sometimes leaves wicked people to
the retribution of apparent success. Absalom comes to Jerusalem
is actually
crowned as king
has a few military victories; then his downfall is swift and
heavy; the triumph of traitors is short. In a part of one year is dissipated
all the fortune of the four years the treacherous son had plotted against his
father. Ahithophel closes his career with a suicide
and ere long the rebellion
is ended; David sits in his throne and sings brighter songs even while he
mourns in his heart.
VI. We mention a
few reflections concerning the death which this rebel prince died.
1. There is a limit beyond which patience
both human and Divine
cannot be expected to go. When the heart of this royal ingrate became fixed in
his wickedness
the Lord simply withdrew from all interposition; so he was left
to his fate; he died the rebel he had lived. Here is an inspired warning: “Some
men’s sins are Open beforehand
going before to judgment; and some men they
follow after.”
2. When a false leader falls
he drags down his favourites in the
failure. The most interesting feature of this story has always been the
immediateness with which the rebellion subsided when those darts went through
Absalom’s heart: What ultimately became of those who had perilled all their
fortunes upon his success we are not informed. Their hopes failed; they had
attributed many excellences to that young and beautiful prince; possibly they
had not studied the future carefully
into the abysses of which they land now
plunged. Hereafter they were outlaws and wanderers.
3. There can be no advantage in having “a fair chance” in life unless
one hastens to improve it for the good of others. The fact is
we instinctively
hold this man Absalom responsible all the more sternly because he had
opportunities so fair and abused them so basely. His sin was the more heinous
on account of his conspicuous position.
4. The hour of retribution is likely to be an hour of melancholy
review. Confidence in the successful issue of evil purposes only deepens the
humiliation of defeat. There is even to this day pointed out in the valley
close by Jerusalem a lofty structure of stone called “Absalom’s Tomb.” The
Scripture has given us a hint concerning its true origin
but not of its date:
“Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar
which is in the king’s dale: for he said
I have no son to keep my name in
remembrance: and he called the pillar after his own name: and it is called unto
this day
Absalom’s place.” That particular structure is perhaps replaced by
this: tradition says it is not a sepulchre
but a monument; and Josephus goes
so far as to insist that it was called Absalom’s Hand
” and bore at its summit
a hand as the symbol of power and victory. (C. S. Robinson
D. D.)
Absalom’s rebellion
After domestic broils and the violent death of Amnon in
circumstances full of horror and disgrace
and after Absalom’s banishment and
return
this adroit and unscrupulous man
impelled by his own ambition
and
having no idea of co-operation with Deity in the punishment of evil
sets about
dethroning his own father and
if possible
possessing himself of the crown.
When one thing is radically wrong
other Wrong things follow in the train of
it. Like woes
sins cluster. The city-gate was the place for the administration of
justice (Ruth 4:1)
and those who were charged
with dispensing it held
court early in the day. On the approach to the court an anxious litigant is
greeted with frank courtesy by the handsome and stately Absalom
who with the
deepest interest inquires about his residence and his business. Won by the
affability of such a distinguished and exalted questioner
the man tells his
place and his grievance. The hollow courtier has the same story for each. He
reaches a verdict without the trouble of a hearing of the case or the appearance of the
other side. The man is delighted. He is at rest. And when the simple
provincial
in addition to such intelligent sympathy with his wrongs
found
himself taken by the hand and kissed by the handsome pretender
he was sure to
go back to his own town and say that David had become useless as a king and was
neglecting his duties
and that things never would be right until Absalom
who
was as wise as he was elegant
filled the throne. Alas
poor human natural It
is the same to-day that it was in David’s time. “Ambition
” as a word
comes
from the Roman politicians going about in their canvass for votes
fawning upon
and flattering the people. English ladies of rank have gone and coaxed and
caressed butchers whom they scorned to secure their votes for their husbands or
their proteges. Members of legislatures have kissed the children and hobnobbed
with their parents to make reputation among them. Doctors have sat as “friends”
by the bedside of the wealthy
hinted their regrets that more vigorous measures
were not adopted and more hopeful views taken by the physicians in attendance
only dropping their smooth generalities when the device succeeded and they were
called into consultation
and regard for their reputation compelled them to
agree with the rest. It is all in the same line with the policy of the mean
smooth-mannered traitor who (v. 6) “stole the hearts of the men of Israel.” It
took three years to carry out his schemes
make his party and arrange for his
being proclaimed. So he made a pretence of going to Hebron
the old capital;
which probably resented the loss of its prestige
where friends of his youth
probably lived and could be counted upon
and where his father had been
crowned. It is not needful to ask if his vow were a reality. He was now at his
ease in lying
and could readily supply the details of v. 8. To keep up the
show of things
Absalom offered sacrifices
in which all who partook were to be
held as pledged to his support. Men of this sort will use religion for their
own ends. History since the Reformation has many a sad case of rulers shaping
their religious courses so as to secure popular sympathy. Meanwhile
and in
order to have him at the banquet
Absalom invites Ahithophel
a man of
influence
whose adhesion would carry great weight
as he was David’s
counsellor. Absalom probably knew his feelings of discontent and
dissatisfaction with David. Absalom’s plans now seemed sure to succeed. “The
conspiracy was strong.” He had many friends throughout the tribes. The
fascination of his personal approaches
the fair promises he had informally
made
the relation he sustained to royalties already--all these things
influenced the people
and his following “increased continually.” Ill-news will
commonly travel fast. “A messenger”--from some friend perhaps--to David
announced the extent of the movement
no doubt with details of Absalom’s plans
as far as they were known or inferred. The afflicted king realised the danger
and at once decided upon flight. There were two good reasons for this: No
preparation had been made for the defence of Jerusalem
and an attack on it
would have been disastrous in the extreme. But such an assault would have been
the natural and politic course of the rebels if David remained there and
attempted to hold the city. It was both humane and politic to quit the capital.
At the same time
the flight must be prompt and rapid
“lest he overtake us
suddenly and bring evil upon us.” This suggests the second reason: Flight gave
time for the development of events and for calm reflection on the part of the
people
This shrewd view was held
it will be noticed
by Ahithophel (2 Samuel 17:1-2)
and also by Hushai
the Archite (2 Samuel 17:7-13). They looked at it
simply as managers and political observers. The following points may be
emphasised with profit:--
1. The home and the public welfare are inseparably linked. Samuel’s
sons took bribes and proved unfit for continuing the system of judges. David’s
family-life was not as it Ought to have been
anal murder
widespread rebellion
and slaughter
with indescribable dishonour and disgrace and danger to the
kingdom
are the results. The suffering
too
falls on the sinning family first
of all.
2. Bad morals on the part of rulers relax the ties of obedience and
make government contemptible. The plausibilities of the rebel son drew their
force from real faults of David’s administration. We may well pray for just and
pure men in places of power.
3. But over and above these natural effects we have the just rule of
Jehovah. David in his misery and penitence owns this. There is a difference
between him and an enemy of God (2 Samuel 15:25-26). Hence his language regarding
the cursing of Shimei (2 Samuel 16:11).
4. The life of Absalom speaks to both parents and children
setting
in a clear light the weakness
folly
and sin of unreasoning parental
indulgence
and on the other hand the atrocious character of ingratitude
selfishness and disobedience on the part of a child. Vices go in groups. They
deaden sensibilities; one prepares for another. The impure and lustful will be
ready for dishonesty
violence
and unnatural crime. (J. Hall
D. D.)
An ungrateful son
Everyone recognises that ingratitude is a grievous defect in a
character. The ingrate is invariably condemned by the opinion of his fellows
and by posterity. Who
for example
has not sympathised with poor Beethoven
when at the close of a laborious
self-sacrificing life his heart was broken by
the knowledge that the boy to whom he had given all he possessed had repaid his
love with cold selfishness and cruelty? There can only be one opinion as to the
blameworthiness of the pampered ingrate. Ingratitude is all but universally
regarded as one of the worst of faults. (J. R. Campbell.)
A struggle for a crown
“A man will venture a knock that is in reach of a crown.” The
ambitious will run all risks of cruel wounds
and death itself to reach a
throne; the prize hardens them against all hazards. Even so will every wise man
encounter all difficulties for the crown of life; and when
by faith
he sees
it within reach
he will count all afflictions light through which he wades to
glory. “If we suffer
we shall also reign with him.” (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Ambition
The brilliant
but erratic
Marie Bashkertsheff
wrote in her
diary: “It is the New Year. At the theatre
precisely at midnight
watch in
hand
I wished nay wish in a single word
‘Fame!’” This is frank
but tragic.
Yet if men were equally honest with themselves and at New Year’s breaking
or
any time of solemn impression
spoke their candid feelings
one would cry
“Pleasure
” another “Gold
” another “Fame
” another “Power
” and
thank God
not a few would cry “To me to live is Christ.” Ambition in itself is not evil;
all depends on its quality
its supreme aim. Paul had three ambitions
and each
of them was noble and worthy of a Christ-purchased and Christ-possessed soul.
Verses 2-6
And Absalom rose up early in the morning.
Courtesy wins hearts
Lady Montague
speaking of gentle manners
remarked: “Civility
costs nothing
but buys everything.” Said Burleigh to Queen Elizabeth: “Win
hearts
and you have the brains and the purses of all.”
Servile flattery
Compare the description
of Bolingbroke’s behaviour which Shakespeare puts into the mouth of Richard
II.:--
“Ourself
and Bushy
Bagel here and Green
Observed
his courtship to the common people;
How
he did seem to dive into their hearts
With
humble and familiar courtesy
What
reverence he did throw away on slaves
Wooing
poor craftsmen with the craft of smiles.”
King
Richard II.
Acts 1:1-26
Sc. 4.
(A. F. Kirkpatrick
M. A.)
Verse 7-8
I pray thee let me go and pay my vow
which I have vowed unto the
Lord.
Diplomatic insincerity
Of royal dissemblers like Absalom history records numerous
parallels
notably Charles II.
who
in his dealings with the Scots
solely to
win them over to his cause
took the Covenant with all the solemnity of a pious
Covenant
also Napoleon Bonaparte
who
when in Egypt seeking to reconcile the
people to his rule
announced: “We Frenchmen are true Mussulmans. Have not we
destroyed the Pope
who called upon Europe to make war upon the Mussulmans.”
After the capture of Cairo this adept at diplomatic insincerity was to be seen
“ seated in the great mosque at the feast of the prophets
sitting cross-legged
as he repeated the words of the Koran
and edified the sacred college by his
piety.” (Charles Deal.)
Verse 13
Verses 14-24
Arise and let us flee.
David’s flight
The motive for the flight was probably a patriotic one. David
would not
let the city be destroyed by civil war. Like Louis Philippe
he
could: not hear to shed his people’s blood. This tenderness of disposition
so
unlike the spirit of the times
is characteristic of him. (1 Chronicles 21:17.)
1. Notice the different classes of people who went out with the king
displaying different aspects of loyalty.
The special lessons he teaches. True service must be voluntary. (Psalms 40:8; Deuteronomy 28:47.) “Whose service is
perfect freedom.” It becomes so in proportion as we know and love the one
served. (2 Corinthians 5:14; Song of Solomon 1:4.) Duty a lower
motive-power than love. (Duty would have constrained Ittai to fight well
but
not to endure exile.) All soul-satisfying religion centres round a person
not
a system
or a doctrine. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
” not only in His work for you. A man
the real object of love and trust. The God-man--Emmanuel. (R. E. Faulkner.)
David retires from the capital to the east of the Jordan
David is evidently taken completely by surprise. The reasons for
his hasty resolution to leave his fortified capital are not clear from the
narrative before us. Had he grounds for suspecting the loyalty of the
population
perhaps still predominantly Jebusite? Of no single day in the whole
course of the recorded history of the Hebrews have we so detailed a record as
we have of the day on which David fled before his undutiful son. From the time
when
in the morning hours: he passed in haste through the eastern gate until
before the next day dawned (2 Samuel 17:22)
. he and all his
following had safely crossed the Jordan
every hour is crowded with life and
incident
and every line of the narrative is instinct with the emotions and
impulses
good and bad
that mould the lives of men. (Century Bible.)
A king’s flight from his capital
James II. was fleeing from his English subjects. At three in the
morning of Tuesday
the 11th of December
James rose
took the great seal in
his hand
laid his commands on Northumberland not to open the door of the
bed-chamber till the usual hour
and disappeared through a secret passage . . .
Sir Edward Hales was in attendance with a hackney coach. James was conveyed to
Milbank
where he crossed the Thames in a small wherry. As he passed Lambeth he
flung the great seal into the midst of the stream
whence
after many months
it was accidentally caught by a fishing-net and dragged up. (Macaulay’s
England.)
Verse 17
And the king went forth and tarried in a place which was far off.
Expatriation
Far up and far back in the history of heaven there came a period
when its Most Illustrious Citizen was about to absent Himself. He was not going
to sail from beach to beach. He was not going to put out from one hemisphere to
another hemisphere. But He was to sail from world to world
the spaces
unexplored and the immensities untravelled. Out and out and out
and on and on
and on
and down and down and down He sped
until one night
with only one to
greet Him when He arrived
His disembarkation so unpretending
so quiet
that
it was not known on earth until the excitement in the cloud gave intimation to
the Bethlehem rustics that something grand and glorious had happened. Who comes
there? From what port did He sail? Why was this the place of His destination? I
question the shepherds. I question the camel-drivers. I question the angels. I
have found out. He was an exile. But the world had plenty of exiles. Abraham
an exile from Haran; John
an exile from Ephesus; Koscinsko
an exile from
Poland; Mazzini
an exile from Italy; Victor Hugo
an exile from France;
Kossuth
an exile from Hungary. But this One of whom I speak had such
resounding farewell
and came into such thrilling reception--for not even an
ostler went out with his lantern to light Him in--that He is more to be
celebrated than any other expatriated exile of earth or heaven.
1. I remark that Christ was an imperial exile. He gob down off a
throne. He took off a tiara. He closed a palace gate behind Him. His family
were princes and princesses. Vashti was turned out of the throne-room by
Ahasuerus. David was dethroned by Absalom’s infamy. The five kings were hurled
into a cavern by Joshua’s courage. Some of the Henrys of England and some of
the Louises of France were jostled on their thrones by discontented subjects.
But Christ was never more honoured
or more popular
or more loved than the day
He left heaven. Exiles have suffered severely
but Christ turned himself out of
throne-room into sheep-pen
and down from the top to the bottom. He was not
pushed off. He was not manacled for foreign transportation. He was not put out
because they no more wanted him in celestial domain
but by choice departing
and descending into an exile five times as long as that of Napoleon at St.
Helena
and a thousand times worse; the one exile suffering for that he had
destroyed nations
the other exile suffering because He came to save a world.
An imperial exile. King eternal.
2. But I go further
and tell you He was an exile on a barren island.
Christ came to this small Patmos of a world. When exiles are sent out they are
generally sent to regions that are sandy or cold or hot. Christ came as an
exile to a world scorched with heat and bitten with cold
to deserts
simoom-swept
to a howling wilderness. It was the backdoor yard
seemingly
of
the universe.
3. I go further
and tell you that He was an exile in a hostile
country. Turkey was never so much against Russia
France was never so much
against Germany as this earth was against Christ. It took Him in through the
door of a stable. It thrust Him out at the point of a spear.
4. I go further
and tell you that this exile was far from home. It
is ninety-three million miles from here to the sun
and all astronomers agree
in saying that our solar system is only one of the smaller wheels of the great
machinery of the universe turning around some one great centre
the centre so far distant it is
beyond all imagination and calculation
and if
as some think
that great
centre in the distance is heaven
Christ came far from home when He came here.
Have you ever thought of the homesickness of Christ?--I have read how the Swiss
when they are far away from their native country
at the sound of their
national air get so homesick that they fall into melancholy and sometimes they
die under the homesickness. But oh I the homesickness of Christ. You have often
tried to measure the other pangs of Christ
but you have never tried to measure
the magnitude and ponderosity of the Saviour’s homesickness.
5. I take a step further
and tell you that Christ was in an exile
which He knew would end in assassination. Holman Hunt
the master painter
has
a picture in which he represents Jesus Christ in the Nazarene carpenter-shop.
Around Him are the saws
the hammers
the axes
the drills of carpentry. The
picture represents Christ as rising from the car-pouter’s working-bench and
wearily stretching out His arms as one will after being in contracted or
uncomfortable posture
and the light of that picture is so arranged that the
arms of Christ
wearily stretched forth
together with His body
throw on the
wall the shadow of the cross. Oh! that shadow was on everything in Christ’s lifetime. Shadow
of a cross on the Bethlehem swaddling clothes. Shadow of a cross on the road
over which the three fugitives fled into Egypt. Shadow of a cross on Lake
Galilee as Christ walked its mosaic floor of opal and emerald and crystal.
Shadow of a cross on the road to Jerusalem. Shadow of a cross on the brook
Kedron
and on the Temple
and on the side of Olivet. Shadow of a cross on
sunrise and sunset. Constantine
marching with his army
saw just once a cross
in the sky
but Christ saw the cross all the time. For this royal exile I
bespeak the love and service of all the exiles here present
and
in one sense
or the other
that includes all of us. All of us exiles. This is not our home.
Heaven is our home. Oh
I am so glad when the royal exile went back lie left
the gate ajar
or left it wide open! “Going home!” That is the dying
exclamation of the majority of Christians. (T. De Witt Talmage
D. D.)
Verse 19
Ittai the Gittite.
Ittai the Gittite
Ittai of Gath was not only a heathen but a heathen of the
heathens
a member of a race the most malignant of all the foes of the Church.
Yet among the events of this day--a day over which the historian fondly if
sadly lingers
more minutely and at greater length described than any other day
of Old Testament history--an episode of which he is the hero finds a prominent
place. It is not much we can know about him; but what we can that we desire to
learn. Let us look at his environment and at himself; his People
his Position
and his Personality.
I. His people.
Probably in a degree in which it can be said of no other country
Palestine has
been the meeting-place and battleground of nations. From earliest historical
times we find wave after wave of conquerors breaking upon
settling down
or
passing over it; and there are not wanting indications that long before history
began to be written the monotonous process had commenced. The shadowy forms of the
earlier races can be dimly discerned
ghost-like
before the rising of the
historic sun. Amongst the many pre-Hebrew arrivals and settlers--and
historically
the most important of them all--was the people to whom Ittai
belonged
the Philistines. Concerning their origin
the events which led to
their migration into Palestine
and the development of their power there
we
know almost nothing--barely sufficient to suggest a few guesses. A reference to
the genealogical table in Genesis (Genesis 10:14) suggests an Egyptian
origin
whilst the Book of Deuteronomy and the Prophets Amos and Jeremiah speak
of them as “Caphtorim out of Caphtor”; but the endeavour to fix a site for
Caphtor has not yet been attended with success. Cappadocia
Cyprus
and Crete
are all claimants; but the balance of opinion seems to incline in favour of the
last-mentioned of the three. From whatever race they sprung
from whatever
quarter they came
we find a tribe of them at the extreme southern limit of
Palestine
on the route down to Egypt
as far back as the time of Abraham
though their very name--“strangers
” or “emigrants”--indicates that they were
arrivals in the country
and not aboriginals. We shall probably not be far
wrong if we suppose a small swarm of “Caphtorim from Caphtor” (say
Cretans
from Crete) hiving off and settling down upon the southern border of Palestine
where the fertile land shades off into the desert on the way to Egypt; there
multiplying their number and developing their genius for war; civilising
casting off nomadic habits
and acquiring those of dwellers in cities; and in
due course acquiring a greater proficiency in the arts and arms than any of the
rude tribes around them. Then comes the great commotion to the North consequent
upon the invasion and conquest by Joshua and his Israelites. The Philistines
are too far off in their southern corner to feel the shock in any direct way;
but their next-door neighbours
the Avites--who occupied the great plain lying
between them and the new-comers
and on whose rich corn-fields they had
doubtless cast many a longing eye--are shaken to their centre. Already three of
their principal towns have fallen; the great Tribe of Judah
under the hero son-in-law
of Caleb
presses sore upon them; half of the plain (“Shefela”) is no longer
theirs. We can then conceive of them
in their extremity and desperation
invoking the aid of their warlike and rising rivals along their southern side
who had already begun to intermarry and mingle with themselves. Nothing loth
the desired assistance is given
and soon Philistine swords--for the first
time
but not for the last
by many a score--cross and crash with Hebrew
spears. Four results follow:--
1. The first is a decided stop to Hebrew extension in that quarter.
The captured cities are regained
and for many a day are thorns in the side of
Judah
Dan
and Simeon.
2. The next is a permanent occupation by the Philistines of the
territory into which they had come as allies. It was the richest part of all
Palestine
excelling even the beautiful Esdraelon
and
moreover
its coast
embraced the two best harbours between Egypt and Phoenicia.
3. Another result is a new name for that portion
and eventually for
the whole
of Canaan. Henceforth the Plain is known from them as “Philistia”--a
name which
thus derived from a heathen tribe in its south-western corner
has
curiously enough
in a slightly altered form
spread over
and to this day
covers all of the Holy Land. It is an illustration of the irony of history that
a name which we fondly cherish as a name holy and revered
should be thus a
child of a pure heathen parentage. In vain Israel cultivated exclusiveness;
ever and anon God compelled an indication of the universalism that was wrapped
up in His Call. The very name which the Holy Land bears is a standing memorial
of that “making of both one
” which
being one of the counsels of God from the
beginning
became realised in Him in whom Jew and Gentile find their meeting-place
with one another and both with Him.
4. The fourth result is a great and rapid development of the
Philistine power. The supposition of a second migration from Crete
though
quite possible
does not seem to be necessary. The fertility of their new possessions--the
granary of Palestine--their commercial advantages
the great increase of
numbers through the absorption of the Avites
Anakim
and possibly other
tribes
including an influx of fugitive Amorites and Canaanites
and the
separation of the dominant race as a warrior or fighting castle to the art and
practice of war--these are considerations quite sufficient to account for such
rapid development of power as the facts of the narrative require. With the
institution of the monarchy and the establishment of a central authority in
Israel
implying some amount of national cohesion in place of tribal isolation
the tables were turned. Saul inflicted many grievous defeats upon them; and
after the accession of David and the perfecting of his military system they had
small chance of success
in aggressive warfare at least
against their mere
numerous foes. But
cooped up within their narrow borders
and forbidden
aggressive war
this nation of soldiers seeks an outlet for its superfluous
manhood in foreign service. As it was with Scotland and Switzerland three
centuries ago
so was it with Philistia in Ittai’s time. What the Scottish and
Swiss Guards were at the Court of France
what the Varangian Guard was to the
Greek Emperors at Constantinople
what the “Free Companies” were to the cities
and princes of Italy
that was the Philistine guard at the Court of Pharaoh and
the Court of David--a reliable body of mercenaries
whose duty it was
in a
general way
to fight the sovereign’s battles
and
in a special way
to guard
the royal person. The nucleus of this guard appears to have been enlisted by
David during his sojourn at Gath
where for a time he found a refuge from the
persecuting jealousy of Saul.
II. Ittai’s
position. He was captain of these mercenaries
the Philistine guard
“the
Cherethites and Pelethites
” in David’s service. We must conceive of him as a
stranger among strangers
a soldier in a foreign employ
an exile from home and
country--either voluntarily
through a desire to push his fortunes
or by
necessity
because of some disagreement or quarrel with the “Lords of the
Philistines.” He is among those who
however much they may appreciate his
sword
hate himself
his race
and his religion. He and his comrades belonged
to a people who
possessing the qualities of strength and pertinacity
were by
temperament sluggish
heavy
and dull-witted. Such is the character everywhere
implied in the pictures of them given in Scripture: “They were almost the
laughing-stock of their livelier and quicker neighbours--the easy prey of the
rough humour of Samson
or the agility and cunning of the diminutive David”
(Stanley’s “Jewish Church.”) In the city
and at the Court of Jerusalem
he and
they would feel and would be regarded very much as Hereward and his Varangians
felt and were regarded in the City and at the Court of Constantinople
as
conceived by the historic imagination and pictured by the faithful pen of Scott
in his “Count Robert of Paris.” Ittai and his guard would be the objects and
the butts at once of the contemptuous civility of the courtiers
and the
stinging spite of the citizens. Almost inevitably
they would draw off
isolate
themselves
and as a caste
hated and hating
live there lives by themselves
reserving all their sympathies for those within the limits of their own order.
Thus were these “Cherethites and Pelethites”--outside the sympathy of the
people and remote from the gossip of the bazaar--when the shameful rebellion of
Absalom bursts upon the astonished guard as a bolt out of a clear sky.
Meanwhile David and Ittai have met. The king looks into the face
illumined
with the light of the noblest feelings that shine out from the heart through
the windows of the eyes: nobility meets nobility; magnanimity accepts what
magnanimity offers. Two great souls meet
embrace
and grapple each to each
with hooks of steel. The simple acceptance of the service proffered; the
delicate recognition that further remonstrance would have been almost an
outrage; the tacit treatment of the question as closed; and the renewed
enrollment into a service that is to last for life--all this and much more is
enwrapped in the “Go
and pass over.” The king’s son was a rebel
his
counsellor a traitor; how heart must have swelled and eye filled in the
presence of devotion so unselfish and so strong in the stranger.
III. The Personality
That Is Here Presented To Us. We know nothing concerning him save what we
gather from these scenes. We see him only twice: once as
beside the brook
Kedron
within stone-cast of Gethsemane
he vows the fealty he kept so well
and once as he marches out of Mahanaim at the head of his well-drilled corps.
But as the naturalist from a single typical bone can construct the whole
physical frame of the animal
so from these scanty yet typical facts the
moralist can give the whole moral build of the man. We experience no difficulty
in the endeavour to reproduce Ittai’s moral structure. He is simplicity
fidelity
and affection embodied.
1. Simplicity
for there was no double purpose in his mind
nor double
speech in his tongue; he had one loyalty and one only
a soldier’s surrender to
the king whose soldier he was; one aim and one only
a servant’s service to the
master whose man he was.
2. Fidelity
for selfish views and considerations seem to have found
in him no place at all; he never asked
“Where is the sunny side of fortune
that I may seek it?” or
“Where the shady side
that I may shun it?” but
“Come
weal or woe
be it life or be it death
I follow where faith leads.”
3. Affection
too
for manifestly this wondrous poet-king had won his
love and held his heart. There was about this David a marvellous power of
attracting
subduing
and holding men. (G. M. Grant
B. D.)
A specimen of nobleness
It is the darkest period of David’s life. He is fleeing
barefooted
in fear of Absalom’s approaching army. Yet he is not altogether alone. A few
loyal hearts cling to him. And
amid the desolating sorrow
appears this Ittai.
He is not a Hebrew; he is a Gittite--that is
a Philistine. But he is among
those who will cast in their fortunes with the fleeing king. Only recently he
seems to have come to Jerusalem. David sees the resolve of splendid devotion in
Ittai. It will be useless to try to dissuade him further. The noble devotion of
Ittai teaches these lessons:--
I. That such
devotion i should show toward Jesus Christ. There must have been a singular
attractiveness and winningness about the personality of David inspiring
devotion to him. There is more attractiveness in Jesus Christ
and to Him
therefore
I ought to be more devoted than Ittai was to David.
1. Think of the purity of Jesus. Tennyson wrote: “I am amazed at
Christ’s purity and holiness
and at His infinite beauty. The forms of religion
may change
but Christ will grow more and more in the roll of the ages. His
character is more wonderful than the greatest miracle.”
2. Think of Christ’s sympathy. I have read how
before they knew of
mines of diamonds there
a boy in South Africa flung a stone at a stranger. The
man picked up the stone
and found it diamond
and it became his treasure. So
Christ finds the diamond in us. Whom others cast away He regards
receives
redeems. Matthew the publican; the woman taken in her sin
etc.
3. Think of the sacrifice of Christ. His atoning cross tells it. This
Christ of purity
sympathy
sacrifice
is worthy limitless devotion.
II. What does
devotion mean and involve?
1. Definite decision for its object. Ittai decided for David. There
were no ifs or buts
about his decision. It was downright. So I should decide
for Christ.
2. Confession. “And Ittai answered the king and said.” A real
devotion does not hesitate about telling itself forth.
3. Marching under the standard of its object. Ittai followed David’s
flag. If I have real devotion to Christ I will join and march with His church
and people.
4. Persistence. Ittai went the whole way with David in that long
march from Jerusalem to Mahanaim. So I should persistently follow Christ.
5. Service. Ittai was one of the commanders for David in the
subsequent battle with Absalom. So I should give myself to service for Christ.
Christ will accept my devotion as David did that of Ittai. And the object of
one’s devotion is the discriminating and deciding test for life. The ignoble
life has other than the highest object of devotion. (Homiletic Review.)
Ittai of Gath
Heartbroken and spiritless
David leaves Jerusalem. And as soon as
he has got clear of the city he calls a halt
in order that he may master his
followers and see on whom he may depend. Foremost among the little band come
six hundred men from Gath--Philistines--from Goliath’s city. These men
singularly enough
the king had chosen as his bodyguard; perhaps he was not
altogether sure of the loyalty of his own subjects
and possibly felt safer
with foreign mercenaries
who could have no secret leanings to the deposed
house of Saul. Be that as it may
the narrative tells us that these men had
“come after him from Gath.” Here they are
“faithful among the faithless
” as
foreign soldiers surrounding a king often are--notably
for instance
the Swiss
guard in the French Revolution. It is a beautiful nature that in the depth of
sorrow shrinks from dragging other people down with itself. Generosity breeds
generosity
and this Philistine captain breaks out into a burst of passionate
devotion
garnished
in soldier-fashion
with an unnecessary oath or two
but
ringing very sincere and meaning a great deal. As for himself and his men
they
have chosen their side. Whoever goes
they stay. David’s heart is touched and
warmed by their outspoken loyalty; he yields and accepts their service. Ittai
and his noble six hundred tramp
on
out of our sight
and all their households
behind them.
I. What grand
passionate self-sacrifice may be evolved out of the roughest natures.
1. A passionate personal attachment; then
that love
issuing as such
love always does
in willing sacrifice that recks not for a moment of personal
consequences.
2. And we see in these words a supreme restful delight in the
presence of Him whom the heart loves. And wherever
in some humble measure
these emotions are realised
there you get weakness springing up into strength
and the ignoble into loftiness. Astronomers tell us that
sometimes
a star
that has shone inconspicuous
and stood low down in their catalogues as
of fifth or sixth magnitude
will all at once flame out
having kindled and
caught fire somehow
and will blaze in the heavens
outshining Jupiter and
Venus. And so some poor
vulgar
narrow nature
touched by this Promethean fire
of pure love that leads to perfect sacrifice
will “flame in the
forehead of
the morning sky
” an undying splendour
and a light for ever more
You have all
that capacity in you
and you are all responsible for the use of it. What have
you done with it? Is there any person or thing in this world that has ever been
able to lift you up out of your miserable selves? Is there any magnet that has
proved strong enough to raise you from the low levels along which your life
creeps? Have you ever known the thrill of resolving to become the bondservant
and the slave of some great cause not your own? Or are you
as so many of you
are
like spiders living in the midst of your web
mainly intent upon what you
can catch in it? You have these capacities slumbering in you. Have you ever set
a light to that inert mass of enthusiasm that lies in you? Have you ever woke
up the sleeper?
II. These
possibilities of love and sacrifice point plainly to God in Christ as their
true object.
III. The terrible
misdirection of these capacities is the sin and the misery of the world. I will
not say that such emotions
even when expended on creatures
are ever wasted.
And I am not going to say that when men love each other passionately and
deeply
and sacrifice themselves for one another
or for some cause or purpose
affecting only temporal matters
the precious elixir of love is wasted. God
forbid! But I do say that all these objects
sweet and gracious as some of them
are
ennobling and elevating as some of them are
if they are taken apart from
God
are insufficient to fill your hearts: and that if they are slipped in
between you and God
as they often are
then they bring sin and sorrow. And so
let me gather all that I have been saying into the one earnest beseeching of
you that you would bring that power of uncalculating love and self-sacrificing
affection which is in you
and would fasten it where it ought to fix--on Christ
who died on the cross for you. Such a love will bring blessedness to you. (A.
Maclaren
D. D.)
Loyal to the core
If Ittai
charmed with David’s person and character
though a
foreigner and a stranger
felt that he could enlist beneath his banner for
life--yea
and declared that he would do so there and then--how much more may
you and I
if we know what Christ has done for us
and who He is and what he deserves
at our hands
at this good hour plight our troth to Him and vow
“As the Lord
liveth
surely in whatsoever place my Lord and Saviour shall be
whether in
death or life
even there also shall His servant be.”
I. In what form
and manner was this declaration made?
1. It was made at a time when David’s fortunes were at their lowest
ebb
and consequently it was made unselfishly
without the slightest idea of
gain from it. To take up with Christ when everybody cries up His name is what a
hypocrite would do
but to take up with Christ when they are shouting
“Away
with him! away with him!” is another matter. There are times in which the
simple faith of Christ is at a great discount. It is such a season that we must
stand out for God’s.
2. Ittai gave himself up wholly to David when he was but newly come
to him. David says
“Whereas thou camest but yesterday
should I this day make
thee go up and down with us?” But Ittai does not care whether he came yesterday
or twenty years ago
but he declares
“Surely in what place my lord the king
shall be
whether In death or life
even there also will thy servant be.” It is
best to begin the Christian life with thorough consecration. Have any of you
professed to be Christians
and have you never given yourselves entirely to
Christ? It is time that you began again. This should be one of the earliest
forms of our worship of our Master--this total resignation of ourselves to him.
3. Ittai surrendered himself to David in the most voluntary manner.
No one persuaded Ittai to do this; in fact
David seems to have persuaded him
the other way. David tested and tried him
but he voluntarily
out of the
fulness of his heart
said
“Where my lord
the king is
there also shall his
servant be.” If you believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is yours
give
yourselves up to him by a distinct act and deed. Feel that one grand impulse
without needing pressure or argument “The love of Christ constraineth me.”
4. Ittai did this very solemnly. He took an oath which we Christians
may not do
and may not wish to do
but still we should make the surrender with
quite as much solemnity.
5. And this Ittai did publicly. At any rate
he so acted that
everybody saw him when David said
“Go over
” and he marched in front--the
first man to pass the brook.
II. What did this
declaration involve?
1. He was henceforth to be David’s servant
Of course
as his
soldier
he was to fight for him
and to do his bidding
What sayest thou
man?
Canst thou lift thy hand to Christ and say
“Henceforth I will live as thy servant
not doing my own will
but thy will. Thy command is henceforth my rule?” Canst
thou say that? If not
do not mock him
but stand back. May the Holy Ghost give
thee grace thus to begin
thus to persevere
and thus to end.
2. He was to do his utmost for David’s cause
not to be his servant
in name
but his soldier
ready for scars and wounds and death
if need be
on
the king’s behalf. That is what Ittai meant as in rough soldier-tones
he took
the solemn oath that it should be so. Now
if thou wouldst be Christ’s
disciple
determine henceforth by His grace that thou wilt defend His cause.
3. His promise declared that he would give a personal attendance upon
the person of his master. That was
indeed
the pith of it. “In what place
my
lord
the king
shall be
even there also will thy servant be.” Brethren
let
us make the same resolve in our hearts
that wherever Christ is
there we will
be.
4. He intended to share David’s condition. It David was great
Ittai
would rejoice. If David was exiled
Ittai would attended his wanderings. Our
point must be to resolve
in God’s strength to keep to Christ in all weathers and in all companies
and
that whether in life or death. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Verse 23
And all the country wept with a loud voice.
The way of the Cross
Notice the weeping people. (Luke 23:27-31.) David’s experience at
this time contains many foreshadowings of the passion of our Lord
but also
some contrasts
as the conduct of the priesthood. (Verse 24 compared with John 18:13; John 18:24.)
I. The ark sent
back. In this incident David’s character rises to its height of moral grandeur.
The ark was the symbol of God’s presence. (1 Samuel 4:1-11.) The Israelites in
Eli’s time had degenerated into trust of the symbol
instead of that which it
symbolized. (Jeremiah 7:1-4; Matthew 3:9.) David understood the
spiritual truth underlying
but not inseparable from
the outward sign.
II. His motives in
sending back the ark seem to have been:
1. An expression of his unworthiness
as one who had deeply sinned
and was suffering the consequences of sin
to enjoy the consolation of
religion.
2. Trust in Jehovah Himself apart from ordinances and symbols. “If I
shall find favour
then I shall be restored to the sanctuary and its blessings;
and if not
then what good will the ark do me? “Without God’s favour it will
only be a useless responsibility.” This teaches us a deep spiritual lesson
needed in all ages
that mere outward forms of religion can never profit a
heart not at peace with God. And in these expressions. David manifested strong
faith. (Numbers 14:8; Daniel 3:17-18; 1 John 5:4.)
3. He feared to injure others by the withdrawal of the symbol of
God’s presence
but would rather leave a witness in rebellious Jerusalem. (Psalms 69:6; Psalms 69:36.)
4. Besides this
he doubtless feared to imperil the ark itself
remembering the awful lesson of Uzzah’s death.
III. A prayer
immediately answered. (2 Samuel 15:31; 2 Samuel 16:23; 1 Corinthians 3:18-19; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25.) Ahithophel’s
treachery specially alluded to. (Psalms 41:9; Psalms 55:12-15.) (R. E. Faulkner.)
Verse 25-26
And the king said unto Zadok
Carry back the ark of God unto the
city.
David’s dependence
Taking David’s conduct as an example to ourselves
we have brought
before us the following truths:--
I.
true Godliness engages the soul’s supreme attention
even in time
of trial.
1. It draws the thoughts away from self. Dwelling on sorrow increases
its bitterness. It grows with observation. We concentrate our mind upon a thing
until it becomes far larger than it really is.
2. It fills the void in the heart with consolation. Of all subjects
religion is the most powerful thing in the world to occupy the attention
and
in its presence every temporal affair sinks into the meanest insignificance.
II.--true Godliness
places God’s honour ever before selfish ease. When David left the city in
flight
Zadok
the High Priest
brought the ark of God to follow the King.
1. David rejected mere outward symbols and signs. The symbolism of
the temple had its proper place and use. It was to accomplish a great
and
mighty
and mysterious purpose. But if religion has its public representation
and form
it has also its private and individual functions as well.
2. God could help him just as welt without the help of priest
or
tabernacle
or service as He could with. Time and place are nothing to God. The
tears of the prisoner
are as precious to him as the orison of a pope. David was very well content to
leave himself in the hands of God without any extraneous help.
III. True religion
identifies man’s interests with god’s purposes. We learn practically that the
part for us to perform is
David and the ark
I. His spiritual
mindedness. He looked beyond the outward symbols to Him who had appointed the
use of those symbols as a means of good. “Carry back
” he says
“the ark of God
into the city.” He felt that it alone could do nothing for him in his
banishment. Here was spirituality of mind
brought
it may be
into livelier
exercise by trial
but evidently forming a part of David’s character. And it
would be well for us to inquire
How far are we of the same mind with the sweet
psalmist of Israel?
II. The simplicity
of David’s faith. “If I shall find favour in the eyes of the Lord
He will
bring me again and show me both it and His habitation.” Here was an unwavering
confidence in the power of God to bring good out of evil; and a conviction that
if the Lord saw fit He would do so. And here we may mark the peculiar and
proper office of faith. It leads to effort; it encourages in duty while it
prevents a departure from the way of God’s commandments. We beseech you to
cultivate more of this spirit
which appeared so conspicuously in the man after
God’s own heart; view every turn in your history as appointed by the Lord
and
seek to have continually a lively apprehension of His overruling providence.
III. David’s humble
resignation to the divine will. That Christian is much to be envied
who
happen what may
can exclaim with sincerity of heart
“It is the Lord
let Him
do what seemeth Him good”; I desire to acquiesce in the Divine appointments
because “I know in whom I have believed”; I know
that though deep are the
water-floods that roll over me
the wisdom of God is deeper than them all. Let
us keep in mind
that the sources from whence we look for comfort may become
the fruitful springs of bitter anguish. Let us not forget that the most secure
of all our earthly comforts are in reality insecure. (S. Bridge
M. A.)
Acquiescence in the will of God.
I. His estimation
of divine means and ordinances. The ark and the tabernacle were much mere to
him than his throne and his palace. And therefore he only mentions these.
“Carry back
” says he
“the ark of God--if I shall find favour in the eyes of
the Lord
he will bring me again”--he will bring me again
ands “show me both
it and his habitation”--the ark and the tabernacle. Not that he undervalued the
privilege of a safe return. Religion is not founded on the destruction of
humanity. We are not required to contemn the good things of nature and
providence.
II. His faith in
divine providence. David views his defeat or his success
his exile or his return
as suspended entirely on the will of God. He does not balance probabilities.
Not that he acted the part of an enthusiast
and despised the use of means.
This appears obviously from the measures he devised
especially his employing
the counsel of Hushai. David knew it was easy for him to take wisdom from the
wise
and courage from the brave; and to confound all his devices. He knelt
also that it was equally easy for God to turn again his captivity.
III. He professes a
full acquiescence in the disposal of the Almighty. “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.” Here are no imprecations of vengeance against seditious subjects
and a
rebellious son; no bitter complaints of instruments; no “charging God
foolishly”; no “teaching God knowledge.” He falls down at his feet wishing to
be raised up
but willing to remain. He mourns
but he does not murmur. What
helped to produce this disposition in David? There were two things in himself.
There were also two things in God which aided this acquiescence.
1. It will be very advantageous to yourselves. Now this acquiescence
in the will of God is the preparation of the Gospel of peace
with which you
are to be shod: Thus prepared
you may travel on through the wilderness. To
vary and enlarge the metaphor--impatience turns the rod into a scorpion. While
the yoke presses the neck
patience lines it with down; and enables the man to
say
It is good for me to bear it.
2. Nothing can be more honourable to religion. To surrender ourselves
to the Divine disposal is the purest act of obedience: to subdue our unruly
passions is the greatest instance of heroism. It ennobles the possessor. It
renders him a striking character. (W. Jay.)
When God’s will is ours
That is the perfection of a man’s nature when his will fits on to
God’s like one of Euclid’s triangles super-imposed upon another
and line for
line coincides. When his will allows a free passage to the will of God
without
resistance
as light travels through transparent glass; when his will responds
to the touch of God’s finger upon the keys
like the telegraphic needle to the
operator’s hand; then man has attained all that God and religion can do for
him
all that his nature is capable of. (A. Maclaren
D. D.)
The trial-bearing force of spiritual religion
In this chapter David and Absalom appear as the embodiments and
representatives of two opposite principles of action:-love of power
and love
of God. In Absalom you have the one
and in David the rather. The love of power
is an element in our spiritual constitution
implanted for benevolent purposes;
and when properly directed
like all other native principles
subserves the
most important ends. Like fire or water
as a servant it is a great blessing
but as a master
a great curse. When it grows into a passion
ascends the
throne
and grasps the sceptre
it puts down conscience
and turns the man into
a ruthless tyrant; ever ready to violate all the laws and trample on all the
rights of his species. It has gained this power now in the breast of Absalom;
and four evils of character are here developed as the consequence:--
1. Filial rebellion. Inspired by this ambitious impulse
Absalom now
east off the authority of David
not only as his sovereign
but as his parent.
2. Mean-spiritedness. In order to gain his ends see what mean
manoeuvres he adopts; he rises early in the morning
he goes “beside the way of
the gate
” where men resorted to have their social disputes settled by the
judgment of the king; and here he clandestinely endeavours to undermine his
father’s authority with the people
and to insinuate himself into their
affections. Oh! the weakness of the people to be thus cajoled. Yet it has ever
been so. Let a prince shake the people by the hand
as Absalom did
and they
will forget their own self-respect
their grievances
and even his tyrannies
and follow him. The people must have a higher moral education” before
they can obtain a better govermnent.
3. Religious hypocrisy. Under the pretence of paying a vow which he
had promised to render unto the Lord in Hebron. “I pray thee
let me go and pay
my vow
” &c. (2 Samuel 15:7-9.) Wicked men have
often sought and won their wicked ends in the holy name of religion.
4. Underhanded cunning. “And Absalom sent spies throughout all tribes
of Israel
” &c. (2 Samuel 15:10-12.) In striking and
glorious contrast with this
we have the principle of love of God
or spiritual
religion
developed in the character of David
before us.
I. Spiritual
religion engages the supreme attention of the soul under trial. Two facts will
illustrate this.
1. That whatever subject has the most power to draw away the mind
from itself
will always be effective in supporting it under trials. The
depressing influence of a trial depends greatly upon the amount of attention
which the man gives to it.
2. Of all subjects
religion has the most power to draw sway the mind
from itself. David felt more interest in the ark now than he felt in the loss
of his throne
the wreck of his kingdom
the peril of his life. And so the good
man ever feels in his religion.
II. That spiritual
religion recognizes God’s superintendence under trial.
1. He regarded it as personal. If “I shall find favour.”
2. He regarded it as being sovereign. If “I shall find favour in the
eyes of the Lord
He will bring me again.”
3. He regarded it as being adequate. If it is agreeable to His rains
“He will bring me again.” He has the power to do so. All that is required is
His will.
III. That spiritual
religion identifies man’s will with God’s
under trial. But if He thus say
I
have no delight in thee; behold
here am I
let Him do to me as seemeth Him
good.” A thorough surrender of oar being and will to God is the first duty of
all intelligences
and the necessary condition of all true progress in power
and blessedness. (Homilist.)
Meek submission to Divine chastisement
“Before corn can be ripened it needeth all kinds of weather. The
husbandman is glad of showers as well as sunshine; rainy weather is
troublesome
but sometimes the season requireth it.” Even so the various
conditions of man’s life are needful to ripen him for the life to come. Sorrows
and joys
depressions and exhilarations
have all their part to play in the
completion of the Christian character. Were one grief of a believer’s career
omitted it may be he would never be prepared for heaven: the slightest change
might mar the ultimate result. It is our wisdom to believe in the infallible
prudence which arranges all the details of a believing life. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Faith in troublous times
Not when the sun shines
but when the tempest blows and the wind
howls about his ears
a man gathers his cloak round him
and cleaves fast to
his supporter. The midnight sea lies all black; but when it is cut into by the
oar
or divided and churned by the paddle
it flashes up into phosphorescence.
And so it is from the tumults and agitations of man’s spirit that there is
struck out the light of man’s faith. There is the bit of flint and the steel
that comes hammering against it; and it is the contact of these two that brings
out the spark. (A. Maclaren
D. D.)
Verse 31
O Lord
I pray Thee
turn the counsel of Ahithophel into
foolishness.
Conspirators
Unfortunately for mankind the time of religious
conspirators is not at an end. Under the fair robe of Christianity
there are
men who are plotting to take away from us the liberty of conscience. There is
steadily growing in number and power a party whose object is to play into the
hands of that church which proclaims itself to be infallible. Let us mention that
great conspirator whose name is temptation. Mr. Ruskin says that the human soul
is not a machine
the wheels of which you can scrape and polish
and set it
going at the rate of
twenty or thirty miles an hour. The human soul is not a
machine; it is a living thing which has to grow. Converts who begin to turn
over a fresh leaf and to serve the Lord Jesus are often much distressed because
they are still inclined to their old sins. Let all such young believers bear in
mind that they are not a perfected machine
but are rather like a seed which
has to grow
or a child that has to be trained. Like the conspirators who would
hand our free country over to the chains of Rome
so the tempter in your heart
is working very gradually. When I was a boy I tried to light a thick piece of
wood with a match
but failed to do so. Had I taken some shavings and lit
them
and then a few chips and placed them against the log it would soon have
been in a blaze. So the inward conspirator works on
little by little. If we
could see the devil in every temptation
no doubt we should act as old Dunstan
is said to have done; but we have a tendency to sin
and when the inward
conspirator makes our besetting sin very tempting
none of us can resist it
without the grace of God. (W. Birch
jun.)
Prayer for the defeat of Chose who attempt to subvert good
government
I. Briefly
describe a good government. Some suppose that one form of government is as good
as another
provided it be equally well administered. If this opinion could be
admitted all observations upon this head would be entirely superseded. But
there is no foundation to imagine that the goodness or badness of any government
depends solely upon its administration. It must be allowed that the ultimate
design of civil government is to restrain the corruptions of human nature. And
since human nature is the same at all times and in all places
the same form of
government which is best for one nation is best for all nations
if they would
only agree to adopt it. Hence politicians may arrive at as great perfection in
the art of government as in any other art which is founded on the principles of
human nature. A civil constitution ought to resemble a good time-piece: A good
clock
for instance
will constantly and regularly move of itself
if it be
only wound up
from day to day
or from week to week. So a good constitution
will support itself
without requiring anything more of the people than barely
their setting it in motion
and choosing their own rulers
at a prescribed
time
and in a prescribed manner.
II. To inquire who
may be said to be aiming to overthrow a good government
There is such a great
diversity in the natural abilities
acquired knowledge
local situations
and
temporal interests of mankind
that it is not to be expected they should be
perfectly agreed in their political sentiments. Individuals
therefore
may be
good subjects of a good government
though they should really think that its
constitution is not so perfect as it might be; or that those in administration
do not in all cases conduct public affairs so well as they might conduct them.
But we may justly consider those as aiming to subvert the government
who
endeavour to alienate the affections of the people from it. This was the method
which Absalom pursued
in order to take the kingdom out of his father’s hands
into his own. Accordingly
when we find any description of men insidiously
endeavouring to alienate the affections of the people from their government
we
have no room to doubt of their malevolent and traitorous designs. They are
certainly seeking the power of bringing about a revolution of government; and
should they attain that power
we may presume they will employ it for that
purpose.
III. The propriety
of praying that God would disconcert the counsels of such designing and
dangerous men. And this will appear
if we consider
1. That the subversion of a good government is one of the greatest
calamities than can fair upon a people. A good government is the security of
everything which they hold most dear and valuable in life. It protects their
persons
their property
and all their civil and religious privileges. And if
this foundation of their public safety and happiness should be taken away they
would be completely ruined. Hence David demands
“If the foundations be
destroyed
what can the righteous do?”
2. It is the prerogative of God to frustrate the most secret and
destructive counsels of men. He knows their down-sittings and up-risings. He
understands their thoughts afar off. He looks on their hearts and ponders all
their purposes. They cannot conceive an evil thought nor concert a malignant
design which he cannot perfectly penetrate and comprehend. He is able therefore
to discover and disconcert the most subtile and secret counsels against the
peace and prosperity of any people. This the inspired writers firmly believed
and abundantly taught.
3. That God has often defeated the most destructive and deep-laid
designs of men
in answer to prayer. David entreated God to confound the
designs of Ahithophel. “O Lord
I pray thee
turn the counsel of Ahithophel
into foolishness.” This prayer was graciously heard and answered. (N.
Emmons
D. D.)
Verses 32-37
Hushai the Archite came to meet him.
--
Hushai
the king’s friend
Contemplate the character of the king’s friend. Like other models
of friendship--John the Baptist
Jonathan
Ruth--he is conspicuous for sympathy
and unselfishness. But there was a special feature in the story of Hushai which
teaches us a great and important lesson. He was used as a counteracting
influence among the king’s enemies.
I. Where they met.
The top of Olivet
where David was worshipping. The use David made of his first
halt. When we moan and lament
and go about seeking sympathy in our sorrows
we
seldom get it. But God sends comfort to the trusting
accepting heart. Worship
is the right way to receive chastisement. (Job 1:20; 2 Samuel 12:19-20.) So angels came
to Bethel and Mahanaim. (Genesis 31:54; Genesis 32:1-2.) Horses and chariots of
fire at Dothan (2 Kings 6:13-18.) Jonathan at Ziph.
(1 Samuel 23:15; Acts 9:17
.) Angels in Gethsemane. When a
soul in sorrow can worship there is no sting left. David might have been
looking down on his forsaken capital now possessed by his enemies
but instead
he looked up to his covenant God. What is the highest worship? Conformity to
God’s will
the worship of Jesus Himself. (Luke 22:42-43.)
II. True sympathy
from hushai.
1. It goes to meet sorrow and suffering that it may bless and
comfort. Apply this in two cases.
III. A mark of true
friendship. To live
and speak
and judge
and act for God in an ungodly world.
It is a harder thing than dying
but it profits the cause. Some day we shall
welcome back the King. Another feature of it. (Verses 35
36.) Be the King’s
remembrancer. Report everything to Him. Use others in this work. Teach young
disciples to “tell Jesus.” (Matthew 14:12.)
Hushai
the Archite; or a fateful meeting
Hushai strongly wished to accompany David
to whom he was deeply
attached. He was troubled greatly at the calamity which had overtaken the king
and the latter was equally troubled to think of the pain and inconvenience
Hushai must suffer for his sake in following his changed fortunes. David knew
also that Hushai could do better service for him by remaining in the city and
counteracting by judicious counsel some of the evil intentions of Absalom. He
has great difficulty in persuading Hushai to remain
and has to appear almost
rude and even ungrateful in the effort to accomplish his desire. He could bear
anything for himself
but he could not permit another to undergo such
exhausting experiences for his sake. Hence he puts as his final argument this
strong sentence
“If thou passest over with me thou wilt be a burden.” David
suggested that Hushai should assume the character of a friend of Absalom.
I. The meeting.
There is in the account of this meeting an illustration of how sometimes we may
find unexpectedly useful guidance. Hushai might have been a useful guide
but
Absalom Is bent on evil
and Ahithophel helps him in his wickedness. Hushai
only seeks to defeat the evil counsel of the latter. This he attempts for
David’s sake
as well as Absalom’s. Absalom could
if he had been true
have
had a most valuable counsellor in Hushai
but
under the circumstances
all
Hushai can do is to endeavour to help David
or to give him time to escape
by
counselling delay on the part of Absalom. Life is like a many-tracked common or
heath; so many paths run side by side or cross each other at different angles.
We pass numberless wanderers like ourselves
but here and there we meet
casually with some one who is most useful
because he chances to know the
direction of the paths
and a word at a perplexing juncture is invaluable. For
such guidance we are thankful. Absalom had in Hushai one who would have done
his best to counsel him for good
but his heart was set on evil
so that
Hushai’s influence was unavailing.
II. A warning also
came to the rebellious son in that
meeting. If David yesterday was followed
loved
and trusted
and is to-day forsaken and hunted
so might he be served
when the flush of success has faded. Absalom needed the warning just then
for
he was contemplating most dastardly crimes. Just as Hushai meets him
unexpectedly
so retribution may meet him also
at the point where he seems to have
reached the full extent of his expectation of success. There is indeed that
which a French writer calls force cachee
or hidden power
checking us
often at the very moment of success wrongly gained. It is not always noticed
but sometimes it comes
startling us with its suddenness. Ahab goes down to
seize the vineyard of Naboth
and at the door Elijah meets him with the
sentence
“In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth
shall dogs lick
thy blood
even thine” The courtiers who wrought against Daniel were themselves
doomed to the death they designed for him. If in secular history we discover
the operation of this force cachee
how much more in sacred. There the
working of the law is laid down thus: “The wicked shall fall by his own
naughtiness;” the ungodly falls into the net he spreads for his neighbour’s
feet. Absalom in meeting wish Hushai comes in contact with one who will lead
him into the pit be had dug for his father and king. There was a Divine hand in
this
and in the after consultation
when the advice of Ahithophel failed
and
that of Hushai was taken. God worked through words. (F. Hastings.)
Hushai’s diplomacy
Hushai’s conduct is certainly no model of Christian uprightness.
It is therefore curiously instructive to see it made the warrant of a similarly
questionable act in modern times. Sir Samuel Morland
Secretary of State to
Cromwell
in describing his betrayal of his master to Charles II. says: “I
called to remembrance Hushai’s behaviour towards Absalom
which I found not at
all blamed in holy writ
and yet his was a larger step than mine.” (Dean
Stanley.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》