Rebellion of Absalom
663
Ittai answered, “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.” These men had been converted
from paganism to the worship of Jehovah, and nobly they now proved
their fidelity to their God and their king. David, with grateful heart,
accepted their devotion to his apparently sinking cause, and all passed
over the brook Kidron on the way toward the wilderness.
Again the procession halted. A company clad in holy vestments
was approaching. “And lo Zadok also, and all the Levites were with
him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God.” The followers of David
looked upon this as a happy omen. The presence of that sacred symbol
was to them a pledge of their deliverance and ultimate victory. It would
inspire the people with courage to rally to the king. Its absence from
Jerusalem would bring terror to the adherents of Absalom.
At sight of the ark joy and hope for a brief moment thrilled the heart
of David. But soon other thoughts came to him. As the appointed ruler
of God’s heritage he was under solemn responsibility. Not personal
interests, but the glory of God and the good of his people, were to be
uppermost in the mind of Israel’s king. God, who dwelt between the
cherubim, had said of Jerusalem, “This is My rest” (
Psalm 132:14
);
and without divine authority neither priest nor king had a right to
remove therefrom the symbol of His presence. And David knew that
his heart and life must be in harmony with the divine precepts, else the
ark would be the means of disaster rather than of success. His great
sin was ever before him. He recognized in this conspiracy the just
judgment of God. The sword that was not to depart from his house had
been unsheathed. He knew not what the result of the struggle might be.
It was not for him to remove from the capital of the nation the sacred
statutes which embodied the will of their divine Sovereign, which were
the constitution of the realm and the foundation of its prosperity.
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He commanded Zadok, “Carry back the ark of God into the city:
if I shall find favor in the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me again,
and show me both it and His habitation: 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.”
David added, “Art not thou a seer?”—a man appointed of God to
instruct the people. “Return into the city in peace, and your two sons
with you, Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. See, I