Second Samuel 18:16

The Bible says in Second Samuel 18:16-33, “And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel: for Joab held back the people.[17] And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him: and all Israel fled every one to his tent.[18] 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.[19] Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, Let me now run, and bear the king tidings, how that the LORD hath avenged him of his enemies.[20] And Joab said unto him, Thou shalt not bear tidings this day, but thou shalt bear tidings another day: but this day thou shalt bear no tidings, because the king's son is dead.[21] Then said Joab to Cushi, Go tell the king what thou hast seen. And Cushi bowed himself unto Joab, and ran.[22] Then said Ahimaaz the son of Zadok yet again to Joab, But howsoever, let me, I pray thee, also run after Cushi. And Joab said, Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?[23] But howsoever, said he, let me run. And he said unto him, Run. Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and overran Cushi.[24] And David sat between the two gates: and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate unto the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold a man running alone.[25] And the watchman cried, and told the king. And the king said, If he be alone, there is tidings in his mouth. And he came apace, and drew near.[26] And the watchman saw another man running: and the watchman called unto the porter, and said, Behold another man running alone. And the king said, He also bringeth tidings.[27] And the watchman said, Me thinketh the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a good man, and cometh with good tidings.[28] And Ahimaaz called, and said unto the king, All is well. And he fell down to the earth upon his face before the king, and said, Blessed be the LORD thy God, which hath delivered up the men that lifted up their hand against my lord the king.[29] And the king said, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king's servant, and me thy servant, I saw a great tumult, but I knew not what it was.[30] And the king said unto him, Turn aside, and stand here. And he turned aside, and stood still.[31] And, behold, Cushi came; and Cushi said, Tidings, my lord the king: for the LORD hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee.[32] And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.[33] And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!” How much David suffered through his children. David was one of the best believers in all the Bible. He was a man after God’s own heart. He wrote the Psalms, the most spiritual part of the Old Testament. David established the city of Jerusalem. King David symbolized the Messiah and the Messiah came in the lineage of David. The Messiah was born in Bethlehem just as David was. O but how much David suffered through his children. One reason that he suffered so much was because he loved much. David’s first son with Bathsheba died as an infant. Amnon, David’s son, raped his sister Tamar; and then Amnon was killed by Absalom. And now Absalom is dead in this civil war. No matter how bad of a person Absalom became, David still loved him. And so David sorrowed and suffered at the death of Absalom. And David said at the end of verse thirty-three, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

The Bible says in Second Samuel 19:1-7, “And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom.[2] And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son.[3] And the people gat them by stealth that day into the city, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.[4] But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son![5] And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, which this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines;[6] In that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends. For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well.[7] Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy servants: for I swear by the LORD, if thou go not forth, there will not tarry one with thee this night: and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that befell thee from thy youth until now.” One of the things that David forgot here was that when God calls you to something, you must be consistently involved in that work fulfilling those responsibilities every day. A God-called preacher must learn this. Such a preacher must preach the Word every week, week in and week out, no matter what is going on in his own life. The Word of God takes precedence. The Word of God and the calling of God are too important to allow any human trouble to affect it or to interfere with it. “Preach the Word, in season and out of season.” That is what Paul said to Timothy in Second Timothy 4:2. David was called to be king, and so David needed to put aside his personal feelings and fulfill his responsibilities to the people.

The Bible says in Second Samuel 19:8-15, “Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent.[9] And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king saved us out of the hand of our enemies, and he delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he is fled out of the land for Absalom.[10] And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back?[11] And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, even to his house.[12] Ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my flesh: wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the king?[13] And say ye to Amasa, Art thou not of my bone, and of my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab.[14] And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man; so that they sent this word unto the king, Return thou, and all thy servants.[15] So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over Jordan.” Notice that it says in verse fourteen, “And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man…” The country was united again with a great unity to accept David once again as their king. That is what is supposed to happen in a democracy too after an election. Everyone should come together and accept the result of the election. Of course, that assumes that there was an honest and fair election. A good way to destroy a democracy is to not have an honest and fair election. Even the appearance of dishonesty will cause the losers to forever doubt and protest the election. It is therefore essential that there be a secure and simple and fair process for the election. How can we come to the place where cheating is not only practiced, but is allowed? God have mercy on us all.

The Bible says in Second Samuel 19:16-23, “And Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite, which was of Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David.[17] And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went over Jordan before the king.[18] And there went over a ferry boat to carry over the king's household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was come over Jordan;[19] And said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.[20] For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore, behold, I am come the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.[21] But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the LORD's anointed?[22] And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?[23] Therefore the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And the king sware unto him.” We should not be surprised that David was willing to forgive Shimei. David himself was forgiven great sins. Those who have been forgiven should be willing to forgive others. That is exactly what Jesus taught. Jesus said in Matthew 6:14-15, “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:[15] But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

The Bible says in Second Samuel 19:24-30, “And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace.[25] And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest not thou with me, Mephibosheth?[26] And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon, and go to the king; because thy servant is lame.[27] And he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God: do therefore what is good in thine eyes.[28] For all of my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the king?[29] And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land.[30] And Mephibosheth said unto the king, Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house.” Mephibosheth also put himself at the mercy of King David, and gave David a reasonable excuse for why he did not leave Jerusalem with the rest of the faithful followers of David. Of course, once again David was gracious and forgiving. Mephibosheth was also in danger because since he was a descendent of King Saul, Mephibosheth could have made a claim to the throne while David was gone. But Mephibosheth did not do that, and Mephibosheth pointed out that he did not gain materially even when he could have at the command of the king. That is why Mephibosheth said in verse thirty, “let him take all,” speaking of Ziba. When someone does something for material gain, there is always the possibility that they are using their situation entirely selfishly: especially in the realm of government. That is one of the problems in the world today. Become a follower of Jesus and do things based upon how He guides your life, and you will not be led by selfishness.

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