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Rebellion of Absalom, David’s Son
469
of deliverance and victory. Its absence from Jerusalem would bring
terror to Absalom’s followers.
At the sight of the ark, for a brief moment joy and hope thrilled
the heart of David, but soon other thoughts came. The glory of
God and the good of his people were to be the most important in
his mind, for he was the appointed ruler of God’s heritage. God
had said of Jerusalem, “This is my resting place” (
Psalm 132:14
),
and neither priest nor king had a right to remove the symbol of His
presence from the city. And David’s great sin was always in his
memory. It was not his place to remove from the nation’s capital the
sacred statutes that represented the will of their divine Sovereign,
the constitution of the realm and the foundation of its prosperity.
He commanded Zadok, “‘Carry the ark of God back into the city.
If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me back and
show me both it and His dwelling place. But if He says thus: “I have
no delight in you,” here I am, let Him do to me as seems good to
Him.’”
When All Looks Dark, David Prays
As the priests turned back toward Jerusalem, a deep shadow
fell over the people with David. Their king a fugitive, themselves
outcasts, forsaken even by the ark of God—the future was dark! “So
David went up by the Ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he
went up; and he had his head covered and went barefoot. And all the
people who were with him covered their heads and went up, weeping
as they went up. Then someone told David, saying, ‘Ahithophel is
among the conspirators with Absalom.’” Again David was forced to
recognize the results of his own sin. The defection of Ahithophel,
the most talented of political leaders, was prompted by revenge for
the wrong to his granddaughter, Bathsheba.
“And David said, ‘O Lord, I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophel
into foolishness!’” Upon reaching the top of the mountain, the king
bowed in prayer, casting the burden of his soul on God and humbly
pleading for divine mercy.
His prayer seemed to be answered at once. Hushai the Archite,
a wise and able counselor and a faithful friend to David, now came
to cast in his fortunes with the dethroned and fugitive king. As if