These chapters relate the story of how David and
his people eventually won out over Absalom and his faction. When Ahithophel
gave advice to Absalom about how to finish off his father David, Absalom sought
a second opinion from Hushai the Arkite. Absalom, not
knowing that Hushai was loyal to David, chose to follow his advice and Hushai
informed David’s men ahead of time about what Absalom was going to do. The
author of 2 Samuel tells us the reason for this. “For the Lord had ordained to
defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring ruin on
Absalom.” (2 Samuel 17:14) Thus, the viewpoint of this author is that the Lord
is sovereign and that he is active behind the scenes even when we do not see
what he is doing.
In the ensuing battle, Absalom gets his hair
caught in the branches of an oak tree and Joab puts him to death there. Joab
sends a Cushite to give David the news, thinking that when David hears this bad
news he will want to kill the messenger. That is why Joab does not send an
Israelite messenger. However, Ahimaaz, son of Zadok, insists on carrying the
message of victory to the king. Joab says to him, “Why will you run, my son,
seeing that you have no reward for the tidings?”
Ahimaaz answers, “Come what may, I will run.”
Ahimaaz gives us a wonderful picture of the
attitude that every preacher should have. We do not carry the message of God to
others because of any reward. We carry the message of God simply out of
obedience and the joy there is in the act itself, the act of serving our Lord
and King.
When Ahimaaz arrives before David, he relays the
message of victory. However, he knows nothing of what has happened with
Absalom. Thus, the Cushite brings David the bad news. When David hears the news
of Absalom’s death, he refuses to be consoled.
C. S. Lewis has this good word about how to
handle sorrow. It comes from one of his letters to an American female correspondent:
By the way, don’t “weep inwardly” and get a sore throat.
If you must weep, weep: a good honest howl! I suspect we—and especially, my
sex—don’t cry enough now-a-days. Aeneas and Hector and Beowulf, Roland and
Lancelot blubbered like schoolgirls, so why shouldn’t we?[1]
Getting back to David: Joab warns him that if he spends all
his time weeping in private and does not encourage his troops, then all of his
followers will abandon him. David heeds Joab’s advice. Then the people usher
the king back into Jerusalem. Once again, David refuses to retaliate against
Shimei, who is shamefacedly present to greet the king upon his return. David
also makes things right with Mephibosheth who was unable to accompany him when
he departed. Essentially, David does all that is necessary to set things to
right.
Meanwhile, Joab is working behind the scenes, politically jockeying to keep his place in the king’s entourage. David welcomes
the help of Amasa who had served as general for his son Absalom. However, Joab
does not want the competition, so he kills Amasa. David had commissioned Amasa
to kill Sheba son of Bichri who was opposing the king. Thus, Joab takes this
opportunity to get the job done himself and thereby earn the king’s praises. In
the end, we will see how Joab’s political jockeying does not work as well as
David’s prayerful approach to life.
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