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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
And David numbered. The verb really means that he organized his army, and arranged it in companies and divisions. As Absalom gathered all Israel to him, there would be some delay; and David, like a wise general, made use of it for training the brave but undisciplined men who had joined him, chiefly from Gilead. Besides these, he had with him numerous veterans, whose skill and experience would be invaluable in such service. The result was that when the rebels came to close quarters, they had a vast body of men, but David a disciplined force, which, under skilful generalship, scattered Absalom's raw levies with ease. The arrangement into thousands and hundreds was in accordance with the civil divisions (Exo_18:25), both being, in fact, dictated by nature as multiples of our hands.
2Sa_18:2
A third part. Armies are usually divided into three divisions: a centre and two wings when drawn up for battle; a van, the main body. and a rearguard when on the march. But the Israelites had no settled rule upon the point, and. when occasion required, Joab divided his army into two parts (2Sa_10:9, 2Sa_10:10). The reason of the threefold division in this case was that Ittai had brought his clan, or taf, with him, and as these would certainly not have fought under an Israelite leader, nor the Israelites under Ittai, David placed all foreigners under his command, while he gave his own nephews the command of the native troops. He thus avoided all jealousies; and Ittai's men, honoured by being made a distinct portion of the army, would feel their reputation at stake, and would rival the Israelites in valour.
2Sa_18:3
It is better that thou succour us out of the city. David thought it to be his duty to go out with the men who were risking their lives in his cause, but they felt not only how painful it would be for a father to fight against his son; but also that there would certainly be a picked body of men who would try to bring the battle to a rapid end by slaying David. But while they partly urge personal considerations, their chief argument is that David would be of more use if, posted with a body of troops at the city, he held himself in reserve to succour any division that might be in danger. And David, seeing how earnest their wish was, yielded to this representation, feeling that it would give steadiness to his men if they knew that so experienced a general was watching the fight, and was ready to succour them if they needed aid. As the people say that it would not matter "if half of us die," and that David "is worth ten thousand of us," Ewald draws the reasonable conclusion that their whole number was about twenty thousand men. The Hebrew literally is, "For now ('attah) as us are ten thousand," which might mean, "There are ten thousand such as we are, but no one like thee." But the Septuagint and Vulgate read, "But thou (attah) art as ten thousand of us." The Syriac, however, like the Hebrew, reads "now."
2Sa_18:5
All the people heard. The king spake so earnestly and strongly to the generals that the words ran from rank to rank as they marched forward. So in 2Sa_18:12 the man says to Joab, "In our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai," etc. It does not follow that each one heard the sound of the king's voice, but only that the command was given publicly again and again, and in the presence of the army.
2Sa_18:6
The wood of Ephraim. There is a diversity of opinion as to the locality thus described. It might mean the large forest tract in the highlands of Ephraim; but if so, the battle must have been fought on the west of the Jordan, whereas the general tenor of the narrative makes it plain that it took place on the eastern side, near Mahanaim. It is true that no wood of Ephraim is ever mentioned elsewhere in the Bible as situated in Gilead, and those who cannot believe in such a wood except within the borders of the tribe, argue that, after the three divisions had marched out to battle, there was long skirmishing, in which Absalom drew David's men across the Jordan, and there gave battle. But Absalom's army was evidently surprised, and as we are told that "he pitched in the land of Gilead" (2Sa_17:26), for him to have retired would have been a confession of weakness; and Joab, after seeing him cross the Jordan, would not have followed him, but let this retrograde movement have its effect upon his followers. Such a movement is absolutely incredible on the part of an army at least three times as numerous as those whom they attacked, and confident of victory. Moreover, armies in those days were not composed of men receiving pay, and bound to remain with their colours, but of yeomen unwilling to be kept long absent from their farms, and liable, therefore, rapidly to melt away. A quick decision was plainly necessary for Absalom, while David could afford to wait. But besides this, when his forces moved out of Mahanaim, David took his post at the gate with the reserves, and he was still there, sitting "between the two gates," when news was brought him of the victory (2Sa_18:24). The only real argument in support of the view that the battle was fought on the west of the Jordan is that "Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain" (2Sa_18:23), Hebrew, the kikkar—a name specially given to the valley of the Jordan near Jericho. But then Cushi must also have run through the same valley, and it is evident that his route was in this very respect different from that taken by Ahimaaz. Really, kikkar, which in Hebrew means "circuit," may be used of the country round any city, and is applied in Neh_12:28 to the environs of Jerusalem. Here the meaning probably is that, while the Cushite took the route back over the battlefield through the wood, Ahimaaz went to the left of it, over the more level ground, nearer the Jordan. And though the name is chiefly used of that part near Jericho, it was probably applied popularly to every stretch of level ground near the river. This argument, therefore, is inconclusive; while, on the other side, it is plain that David's army returned that same day to Mahanaim, that they knew at once of his distress, and that they were beginning to steal away home when Joab made David come forth to thank them, and encourage them to remain with him. The most probable explanation of the difficulty is that "the wood of Ephraim" was so called because it was the spot where Jephthah defeated the Ephraimites when they invaded Gilead to punish him for daring to go to war without their consent, they being then the dominant tribe, to whose arbitrament belonged all imperial matters (Jdg_12:4-6).
2Sa_18:8
The battle was there scattered. The word in the Hebrew is a noun, which the Massorites have changed into a participle. But the noun is right: "The battle became a scattering," that is, it was a series of disconnected encounters, in which David's three divisions attacked and routed Absalom's men, while still on the march, without giving them an opportunity of collecting and forming in order of battle. And the wood devoured more people that day thin the sword devoured. The woodland was difficult, full of gorges and begs and steep defiles leading down to the Jordan, and the fugitives easily lest their way in it, and wandered about till they were hopelessly entangled in thicket and morass.
2Sa_18:9
Absalom met the servants of David. The verb means that he came upon them by chance. Evidently in the intricacies of the forest, Absalom. had lost his way, and, finding himself suddenly in damager of being captured by some of David's men, he urged his mule through a thicket, as the open ground was blocked by his pursuers. But in the attempt his head was jammed between the boughs of a great terebinth, and the mule, struggling onward, left him hanging in mid-air. Nothing is said about his hair having caused the accident, and apparently it was his neck which became fixed. Probably, too, he was half stunned by the blow, and choked by the pressure; and then his hair would make it very difficult for him to extricate himself. And so, after one or two efforts, in which he would be in danger of dislocating his neck, he would remain suspended to await his fate. Now, this adventure makes the whole affair perfectly plain. Absalom was riding his mule, evidently unprepared for battle. The chariot and horses, with fifty men as his body guard, used by him at Jerusalem (2Sa_15:1), are nowhere near him. Chariots, of course, would have been useless on such rough ground, but Absalom would have had a picked body of young men round him in the battle; and mules were only for use on the march, and were sent into the rear when the fighting began. But the last thing that Absalom expected was that he should be attacked on the march. He was advancing with an army infinitely more numerous than that of David, and assumed that David would wait at Mahanaim, and, if he fought at all, would fight under its walls. His defeat he regarded as certain, and then the vain glorious prince and all Israel would drag the city into the nearest ravine. In this over confidence he was riding in advance of his army, which was struggling on over most difficult ground. For "rising as the country does suddenly from the deep valley of the Jordan, it is naturally along its whole western border deeply furrowed by the many streams which drain the district; and our ride," says Canon Tristram, "was up and down concealed glens, which we only perceived when on their brink, and mounting from which on the other side, a short canter soon brought us to the edge of the next". Struggling along over such ground, Absalom's men were not merely tired and weary, but had lost all order, and "become a scattering," and probably Absalom had cantered on in order to find some suitable spot for reforming them. Suddenly he sees at a little distance before him one of the three detachments of David's army, which had marched out a few miles from Mahanaim, and posted themselves on some fit spot to attack the rebels on their march. Apparently they caught no glimpse of him, but he immediately became aware of the tactics of the king's generals, and discerned the extreme danger of his position. Everything depended upon celerity. If he could warn his men, the foremost would halt until the others came up, and a sufficient force be gathered to resist Joab's onslaught. There was no cowardice on his part, but simply the discharge of his duty as a general. He turns his mule round, and dashes away in order to halt and form his men, keeping to the wood that he may not be seen. In his great haste he is not careful in picking his route, and possibly his mule was stubborn, and swerved; and so, in attempting to force his way through the thicket, he is stunned by a blow from a branch of a terebinth tree, and so entangled in its boughs that he cannot free himself; and as none of David's men had seen him, he might have hung there to be the prey of the vultures, and only his riderless mule have been left to bear witness to his having met with some disaster. Meanwhile his followers struggle on, until they come upon David's men, who put them to the sword. There is no battle, but the three divisions, advancing in order, make merciless slaughter of their opponents. For some time Absalom's forces, extended over many miles of march, do not even learn what is going on in their front, and twenty thousand men had fallen before, becoming aware of their defeat, they fly in wild confusion, to lose more men in their panic than had fallen in fighting. Their loss would even have been greater had not Joab stopped the pursuit upon Absalom's death. But where was Amasa, and what was he doing? He had led his troops miserably, had taken no precautions against surprise, and did nothing to rally them. Had Absalom got back in safety to the van, he might have saved his men from so disastrous a defeat; but Amasa, doubtless a brave soldier, proved himself quite incompetent to the duties of a commander-in-chief, and no match for the sagacious Joab.
2Sa_18:11
A girdle. This was an important article of dress (Eze_23:15), and was often richly embroidered. Absalom's death was well deserved, and there can be little doubt that, if he had gained the victory, he would have massacred David and all his family. The dishonour done to his father at Jerusalem was even intended by Ahithophel to render all reconciliation impossible. But Joab was disobeying the king's express orders, and as Absalom was incapable of making resistance, he ought to have taken him prisoner, and left it to David to decide what his punishment should be.
2Sa_18:12
Though I should receive. The Hebrew text expresses the horror of the man at Joab's proposal much more vividly than the tame correction of the Massorites admitted into the Authorized Version: "And I, no! weighing in my palm a thousand of silver, I would not put forth my hand against the son of the king."
2Sa_18:13
Against mine own life. Again the K'tib is better: "Or had I wrought perfidiously against his life—and nothing is hidden from the king—so wouldst thou have set thyself against me." Not only was the man faithful to the king, but he was perfectly aware of Joab's unscrupulous character. If only Absalom were put out of the way, Joab would have readily consented to the execution of the unimportant person who had been the means of gratifying his wish.
2Sa_18:14
Three darts; Hebrew, three staves (see 2Sa_23:21). The weapons of the ancients were of a very inferior kind, and stakes sharpened at the end and hardened in the fire were used by the infantry, until the increasing cheapness of iron made it possible to supply them with pikes. Joab's act was not one of intentional cruelty, but, picking up the first weapons that came to hand, he hurried away to kill his victim. His thrusts with these pointed sticks were brutal, and inflicted mortal wounds; but as they were not immediately fatal, Joab's armour bearers, who had followed him, and who had with them Joab's own better weapons, were called upon to put an end to Absalom's sufferings. His heart does not mean that organ anatomically, but the middle of his body. So at the end of the verse, in the midst of the oak, is, in the Hebrew, in the heart of the terebinth.
2Sa_18:16
Joab blew the trumpet. Stem and unscrupulous as he was, yet Joab is always statesmanlike. He had slain Absalom more for public than for private reasons, though he may have grimly remembered his own blazing barley field. But the rebellion being now crushed, further slaughter was impolitic, and would only cause sullen displeasure. The people, at the end of the verse, are those under Joab's command, and a translation proposed by some, "Joab wished to spare the people," is to be rejected.
2Sa_18:17
A great pit; Hebrew, the great pit; as though there was some great hollow or well known depression in the wood, into which they cast Absalom's dead body, and raised a cairn over it. Such cairns were used as memorials of any event deemed worthy of lasting remembrance, but the similar cairn piled over the dead body of Achan (Jos_7:26) makes it probable that the act was also intended as a sign of condemnation of Absalom's conduct. All Israel fled every one to his tent. The Israelites were still a pastoral people, with tents for their abodes, though houses were gradually taking their place. The cry, "To your tents, O Israel!" (1Ki_12:16), meant, "Go away to your homes!" and not "Gather for war!" It is remarkable how constantly Absalom's followers are described as "Israel" while the loyal men are "David's servants." Absalom's was evidently the popular cause, and, besides Uriah's murder, there must have been political reasons for discontent at work to make David's government so distasteful.
2Sa_18:18
Absalom … had taken and reared up for himself a pillar. In contrast with the heap of stones cast over his dishonoured body, the narrator calls attention to the costly memorial erected by Absalom in his lifetime. The three unnamed sons mentioned in 2Sa_14:27 seem to have died in their infancy, and probably also their mother; and Absalom, instead of taking other wives to bear him sons, which would have been in unison with the feelings of the time, manifested his grief by raising this monument. We have no reason for supposing that it was the result of vanity and ostentation. Ostentatious he was, and magnificent, but his not marrying again is a sign of genuine sorrow. The king's dale is "the Valley of Shaveh," mentioned in Gen_14:17; but whether it was near Jerusalem, as Josephus asserts, or near Sodom, is uncertain. The pillar was probably an obelisk, or possibly a pyramid, and certainly was not the Ionic column of Roman workmanship shown in the Middle Ages and at the present time as "Absalom's grave." This is in the Kidron valley, about two furlongs from Jerusalem. Absalom's place; literally, Absalom's hand; that is, memorial (see note on 1Sa_15:12).
2Sa_18:21
Cushi. This is not a proper name, but signifies that he was an Ethiopian, that is, a negro slave in Joab's service. Joab was unwilling to expose Ahimaaz to me king's displeasure, and we gather from 2Sa_18:27 that the sending of a person of low rank would be understood to signify evil tidings. The bearer of good news received a present, and therefore the passing over all Joab's personal friends to send a slave was proof that the message was not expected to bring the bearer honour or reward. And Joab was quite right in supposing that David would be more displeased at his son's death than pleased at the victory.
2Sa_18:22
Seeing … thou hast no tidings ready. This was not true; there were most important tidings ready. But it is the translation which is in fault. What Joab said is, "Seeing thou hast no tidings that find," that is, no message that will find for thee the king's favour and a reward.
2Sa_18:23
Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain; Hebrew, the kikkar, or Jordan valley. The battle, as we saw in 2Sa_18:6, was fought on the eastern side of the river, and Absalom's army, in their flight, would endeavour to reach the fords of the Jordan (comp. Jdg_12:5); and probably Joab had pursued them for some distance before the man found in the thicket the body of the unfortunate Absalom. The large slaughter of twenty thousand men (2Sa_18:7) proves that the defeated rebels were vigorously followed. In carrying the news the negro evidently went back by the route which the troops had followed; while Ahimaaz, using his more developed intellect, took a longer course to the west, but one that avoided the tangles and the deep defiles of the forest. Strictly, the Kikkar, as we have seen, was the name of the Jordan valley near Jericho; but it was probably applicable also to the same sort of formation further north. On approaching Mahanaim, Ahimaaz would strike inland, and the two routes would join one another; and one reason which made Ahimaaz go more to the west was that he did net wish the Cushite to know that he had a rival. He would thus go at a steady pace, picking his way through the forest, while Ahimaaz was using his utmost speed.
2Sa_18:24
David sat between the two gates. The gateway was in a tower in the city walls, and David was sitting in the space between the inner and outer gates. Over this space was a chamber, mentioned in 2Sa_18:33, while the sentinel was posted upon the front wall over the outer gate.
2Sa_18:25
If he be alone. In case of defeat there would have been a crowd of runaways in eager flight. And when soon afterwards a second courier is seen, as he also is alone, and comes by a different route, his appearance only suggests the idea of completer tidings. And quickly the foremost is recognized by his running as the son of the high priest, and David is then assured that all has gone well, because Joab would not have sent a man of such rank to be the bearer of bad news. The word good may also mean that Ahimaaz was too brave a man to have fled from the battle, and must, therefore, have come on an errand from Joab.
2Sa_18:28
And said unto the king, All is well; Hebrew, Peace. This was the ordinary salutation among the Israelites, but its hurried exclamation on the part of the breathless runner was probably intended to convey the idea given in the Authorized Version. Hath delivered up the men, etc; Hebrew, hath hedged, or shut in (see upon this expression the note on 1Sa_17:46, and comp. Psa_31:8). Both there and in 2Sa_22:20 prosperity is compared to the being in a broad place, where there is freedom to act (see also note on 2Sa_13:2).
2Sa_18:29
Is the young man Absalom safe! literally, Is there peace to the lad Absalom? Was this mere love for the handsome but rebellious son, whose image comes back to the father as he was when just reaching manhood? Certainly not. David was thinking of the ominous words, "The sword shall never depart from thine house" (2Sa_12:10). The sword had devoured one son; was it now to claim another? And then? and then? Where would it stop? And Ahimaaz saw the king's distress, and gave an evasive answer. He understood now Joab's unwillingness to let him carry such painful tidings, and was glad that this part of the news had been entrusted to the Cushite. When Joab sent the king's servant, and (me) thy servant. This distinction is strange, and probably one of these phrases has crept in from the margin. But if the Ethiopian was technically "the king's slave," and Ahimaaz "thy slave" (by courtesy), we might imagine that negro attendants already formed part of the state of kings. It was long afterwards that Ebedmelech was a Cushite in the service of Zedekiah (Jer_38:7).
2Sa_18:31
Tidings, etc. The literal meaning is more fit for the mouth of a slave. "Let my lord the king learn the tidings that Jehovah hath judged (and delivered) thee this day from the hand," etc; that is, God, sitting as Judge at the assize of battle; hath given sentence for thee, and pronounced thy acquittal. The same phrase occurs in 2Sa_18:19.
2Sa_18:32
Is the young man, etc.? Alarm for Absalom is the dominant feeling in David's mind; and as Cushi had been sent for the very purpose, he at once communicates the news to him in words that leave no doubt of his meaning.
2Sa_18:33
The king was much moved. The Hebrew word properly refers to agitation of body. A violent trembling seized the king, and, rising, he went up to the guard chamber over the two gates, that he might give free course to his lamentation. The whole is told so vividly that we can scarcely doubt that we have here the words of one who was present at this pathetic scene, who saw the tremor which shook David's body, and watched him as he crept slowly up the stairs, uttering words of intense sorrow. And it was conscience which smote him; for his own "sin had found him out." In Psa_38:1-22, and Psa_40:1-17. he has made the confession that it was his own iniquity which was now surging over his head.
The facts are:
1. David, refreshed by the aid sent him, sets himself to the work of organizing his followers, and divides them into three corps, under Joab, Abishai, and Ittai respectively.
2. On his proposing to head the force, the people urge him to desist from doing so, pointing out that, in case of a conflict, the enemy would be sure to make an endeavour to kill him rather than to fight a regular battle.
3. The king yields to their persuasions, and, as they suggest, abides by the city to render succour if required.
4. Having seen his men march out, he lays strict injunction on his captains, in the hearing of their forces, to deal gently with Absalom for his sake.
5. A severe battle takes place, in which the followers of Absalom are defeated with great slaughter.
6. Absalom, in riding through a wood, is entangled in the branches by his head, and, while hanging there, is seen by a man who reports the fact to Joab.
7. On being reproached for not slaying Absalom, the man reminds Joab of the solemn injunction of the king, and that he was restrained by that, as also by the fear of being discovered should he attempt the deed in secrecy.
8. Joab in a rage takes three darts, and thrusts them through the heart of Absalom, and his armour bearers also join in the infliction of wounds on his body.
9. Joab thereupon recalls the people from the pursuit, and causes Absalom to be buried in a pit and covered by a heap of stones, the only monument in his memory being the pillar which he himself had erected during his lifetime.
10. On the death and burial of Absalom becoming known, his forces are dispersed, each man fleeing to his tent.
I. AS A MATTER OF FACT, OBLIGATIONS INVOLVING MUCH PAIN IN THEIR DISCHARGE DO ARISE SOME TIME OR OTHER IN THE COURSE OF A GOOD MAN'S LIFE. Our entire life is a continuous duty. Obligations attend us every day. Right action means fulfilment of purposes, obeying laws, harmony with moral necessity. The pressure is incessant, and ordinarily is, for the Christian, a not unwelcome yoke. But now and then duty is in forms requiring all the resources of a strong will, and in a direction against some of the most cherished feelings of the heart. David was bound to care for the kingdom over which he had been appointed by God. The validity of his anointing was still unrevoked by him who ordained it. It was, therefore, due to himself, his kingdom, and his God that he should take means to put down the usurpation of his own son. Paternal feeling might be pained, but the obligation was imperative. The Church furnishes many such instances. The most tender of ties have been severed in order to be true to Christ's commands. The doing of his work in the world often costs much pain because of its apparent antagonism to those best loved. Peter did not exercise discipline in the early Church without anguish of spirit (Act_5:1-5). The reproofs of the Apostle Paul were with much sorrow of heart. Letters are daily written with tears. Parents daily have to resist the self-will of sons and daughters, and they mourn the sad necessity. Fidelity to right is, in many instances, a secret martyrdom.
II. IN THE MENTAL CONFLICT INCIDENT TO THE DISCHARGE OF DUTY, THE SENSE OF RIGHT RISES ABOVE PERSONAL CONSIDERATIONS. The whole history of David proves that when, at Mahanaim, he began to collect his thoughts and consider the path of wisdom, a most painful conflict must have arisen in his mind as to the course to be taken. The clearer the conviction that, as God's anointed, he was bound to put down the force that was driving him from the throne, the sharper the pang awakened by the thought of raising the sword against his own child. The battle had to be fought out within his own nature before it was transferred to the open field. The human spirit is the arena of great struggles and victories, before men see visible triumphs. The dreadful disaster had for a time taken away David's strength; the pains of hell got hold of him: he was poor, weak, and forlorn. But now the recollection of duty to God and man brought back his old courage and resolution; and the calm and sober way in which he began to marshal his forces showed that help had come from God to subordinate the anguish of his heart to the sense of duty. Providence seems to work along these lines in the training of the best men. Character is strengthened by the triumph of conscientious regard for the will of God over the strivings of personal considerations. If to fight against a son, to face the possibility of much slaughter, and to see a prosperous reign darkened by civil war, were evils endured by David in order to carry out the kingly purposes of his anointing, how does it become Christians, in carrying out the purposes of their special anointing, to bring every thought, desire, and preference into subjection? Christ has left us the noblest example of this.
III. A RESOLVE TO SUBORDINATE PERSONAL CONSIDERATIONS TO A SENSE OF DUTY BEING TAKEN, A GOOD MAN WILL DEVISE MEANS OF MEETING DIFFICULTIES AND SECURING THE END IN VIEW. The season of mental conflict being passed, and stern duty being accepted, David proves his courage and sagacity by his calm determination, his collection of resources, his estimate of his numerical strength, his dispositions for meeting difficulties and accomplishing the end in view, his preparedness to incur personal risks, his acceptance of good and generous counsel, and his precautions against disaster at the outset (2Sa_18:1-5). The king's soul was evidently sustained by the assurance often expressed in the Psalms that the Lord was his Salvation; and this, instead of encouraging neglect and carelessness, stimulated, as it always does, energy to work along the lines of the Divine purpose. The emotions of the father are kept under by prompt and energetic application of all the powers of body and mind to the performance of kingly duty. Our faith in God and in the realization of his purpose will appear in the zeal with which we work to bring that purpose to pass.
IV. IN SUBORDINATING PERSONAL CONSIDERATIONS TO A SENSE OF DUTY, A GOOD MAN WILL NEVERTHELESS CHERISH SENTIMENTS NATURAL TO HIS RELATIONSHIPS. David suppressed the pain of making war on his son because it was right so to do; but that did not imply the uprooting from his heart of those feelings of tenderness and compassion and yearning sorrow which are proper to a father, even for a prodigal son. He did not waver in his kingly design to subdue rebellion, nor did he show a wicked leniency towards an evil life in the son, when he, in the presence of the whole army, enjoined on Joab to "deal gently with the young man Absalom." The rebel was his own child, and a pious heart could not but wish to have opportunity once more to pour upon that child the full force of its sorrowful love, in hopes of winning him over to a sense of his guilt. No feeling so natural as the wish that a prodigal may not be cut off by unpitying hands in the midst of his sins. The legal question as to what would have to be done with a captured rebel was not yet for decision. Sanctified human nature simply yearned to save the sinner from men as cruel as the grave. Knowing the character of Joab, and being a stranger to mere personal revenge, David urged upon him, as a strong restraint, consideration for himself as king and father. There are many Christian parents today who feel for their erring ones just as David did for his, although, like him, they are obliged, out of regard to their families and themselves, to pursue a line of rigid duty. Hope of salvation never dies from a parent's heart. Beautifully does this adumbrate the compassion of God towards his prodigals! "Deal gently with him" seems to be the message sent forth to the forces which work out the king's purposes in the discipline of life. "Do not crush him" is the spirit of God's government. How much we each owe to that!
V. THERE ARE PROVIDENTIAL ENCOURAGEMENTS TO THE SUBORDINATION OF PERSONAL CONSIDERATIONS TO A SENSE OF DUTY. David was helped in his mental conflict by reflection on the past and present. He was so far spared by God. Sympathetic friends had brought him aid when in great distress. His own followers were intelligently loyal (verse 3), and were obviously strong in their confidence in the justice of his cause. This kind of external support is of great service when a man is passing through a struggle as to whether he can perform a painful duty. Generally when God assigns duties involving pain in the performance, provision is made for encouragement. When our Saviour required his apostles to renounce all and to look on to persecution like that which he was suffering from, he cheered them by the promise of the Comforter, and a peace which the world could not give. The Resurrection made them strong to endure the loss of all things, and to subordinate love of home, friends, and country to the obligation of fighting against evil in the world.
GENERAL LESSONS.
1. In the time of disaster it behoves us, when occasion arises for reflection on the situation, to avail ourselves with vigour of the resources for recovering our position which God places around us.
2. One of the best preservatives from utter despondency is a remembrance that God has a work for us to accomplish in life, and hence, the more clearly this is kept in view, the more readily shall we be able to face disagreeable duties.
3. It is the duty of citizens to take precautions for the safety of those in high positions, since the welfare of the state is involved in their lives.
4. One of the elements of a perfect moral character to be attained to is the balance between the most rigid justice and the cherishing of feelings free from the taint of personal revenge.
5. As in the state we ought to do things for the "king's sake" which do not involve a breach of morality, so in the Church there are things we should do for Christ's sake, which would not be done did we simply follow out the bare tendencies of our imperfect nature and conform to the usages of society.
I. ALIENATION OF HEART AND LOSS OF THE GENUINE FEELING OF SONSHIP. Absalom had known a time when, in the assertion within his own spirit of self-hood, he virtually ceased to be a true son. This was his fall. The old child affection became weak; an aversion sprang up; father was no longer regarded as a father should be, and child ceased to be genuine child. This was the secret of all. It was a sort of moral death. The schism was more than political. Virtually he had said, "I will be free and do as I wish." This is also the essence of our sin against God. Adam lost somehow the sonship feeling. Self-will asserted its power. God became one, and he another. Union was gone. This is our Saviour's teaching in the parable of the prodigal son. The young man was weary of his father, and wanted to do as he liked away from him. If we examine our hearts, it will be found to be the same with ourselves. Sin is, negatively, destitution of the sonship feeling; positively, the assertion of self-hood as against God. In this lies its desperate evil, its incurable vice, its secret of doom.
II. A PERVERSION OF GIFTS. As soon as Absalom's heart was gone, he began to use up his beauty, his eloquence, his scheming, every faculty of his nature, to render himself happy in his self-hood, and to be able to dispense with his father's favour. In human nature all gifts flow in the line of one master feeling. Hence when the dominant feeling is alienation from God, the entire man goes away, and all powers are made subservient to self as against the rightful dominion of God. The prodigal son used his patrimony away from his father. Sinners use up their patrimony for self, and not in harmony with God. Kindness is abused.
III. A RESOLVE TO GET RID OF AUTHORITY. For a time Absalom simply cherished the feeling of alienation and knew the misery of a lost love. But evil is a force, and we cannot remain as we are when it once enters the soul. The wretchedness of a lost love put him on the way to get rid of the authority which existed in spite of his loss of loving delight in it. Thought begets thought, and so in due time positive rebellion arose. The royal father must be formally dethroned. There is a corresponding phase in the life of many a sinner. It is misery to be loveless and to know at the same time that God lives. Hence, thoughts flow in suggesting how, by what scepticism, or disbelief, or defiance, or desperation in vice, he can be dislodged from the conscience. Possibly the war becomes violent. No more welcome thought to some men than that God is not. Lost love means in the end antagonism.
IV. THERE IS FOR A WHILE AN APPEARANCE OF SUCCESS. Unhappy Absalom found abettors and flatterers. His independent spirit accorded with the temper of others. His endeavours to live without his father's love and blessing seemed most successful, for never did men make so much of him as now when he has shaken off the yoke of dependence and has gone in for a free life. His "strength was firm." The aim of his ambition seemed within reach. Wise and astute men encouraged and helped him, and threes were placed at his disposal. So all seems to go well for a while with those who are alienated from God the Father. No visible punishment comes on them. They are free from restraints to which once they submitted. They "become as gods, knowing good and evil." Others, some of them wise and learned and astute, encourage them in their mode of life and join in their aims. The forces of wit, learning, science, worldly sagacity, combine to enable them to put down the authority to which they ought to submit. These are the wicked who prosper in the world.
V. THERE ARE THE BEGINNINGS OF REVERSE. Absalom finds his forces scattered by a force the strength of which he did not expect to meet. The mighty array of power on his side receives a check (verses 6-8). He has to learn that the authority despised can make itself felt. And in the course of Providence there are times when events remind sinners that God still rules over forces which they cannot resist, that powers are at work before which they have to bow. Sickness, bereavement, adverse conditions of life, ruin of wicked helpers, pangs of conscience, and personal wretchedness, come and beat down the proud array of wit, learning, jovial companionship, and stoutness of will, as the rebel army was beaten down in the wood of Ephraim. Wicked men have intimations of destruction before it fails on them. The conscience sees, as with prophet's eye, the dark shadows of the future in passing events.
VI. VALUABLE GIFTS HASTEN DESTRUCTION. The pride of Absalom's person warn the means of hastening his death. The hair which had been so much admired, which he counted as a treasure, and made him conspicuous in Israel, now combined with the silent forces that ran through the forest trees to bring him into the judgment for which his course of rebellion had been preparing him. When God's time has come, he has many instruments for effecting his purpose. The best gifts of sinful men sometimes get so entangled with the stable order of nature as to prematurely bring their life to an end. There are always "branches" stretching out in the natural order of things, forming objects against which the powers and possessions of men run, to their detriment and speedy death. The young man's natural vigour, of which he is proud, may run against a resisting force which shatters it in proportion to its strength. Brilliant intellects, in their defiance of God, have, in modern times, become so absorbed in literary work bearing on their infidelity, as to be caught early in the arms of death. Of how many may it be said that their beauty has been their destruction!
VII. THEIR MEMORY IS DESTINED TO BE UNHONOURED. Absalom, proud of his name and ambitious of posthumous fame, erected a memorial pillar for himself—a mournful premonition, as it were, of his miserable end. Nothing could have been more mortifying to him, had he known it, than to be cut down from a tree like a common felon and be buried as a dog. The wicked are cut off; their memorial perishes. It may be that men who die in sin have reared to their memory tablets or monuments of marble or brass; but the truth remains that they shall have no everlasting memorial in the assembly of the upright in the new Jerusalem. Earthly monuments are perishable. It is said of those who are so unfortunate and guilty as to die in a state of alienation from God, that their name shall "rot" (Pro_10:7). The only enduring order of things is that of the kingdom of God: it "cannot be shaken," and a place in that kingdom alone can ensure a perpetual memorial. Those who are true sons, who have recovered the lost feeling of love, shall shine in the kingdom of the Father, and shall be heirs with Christ of his glory and joy. The wicked shall go into "outer darkness."
GENERAL LESSONS.
1. The attention of all, especially of the young, should be called to the fact that the right feeling of sonship is that of loving submission, and that the loss of this towards earthly parents is really the fruit of a loss of the filial feeling towards the heavenly Father.
2. If we would form right notions of the guilt of sin, the need and nature of atonement, and the punishment awarded to sin in Scripture, we must pay due regard to what sin is in its essence—the assertion of self against God.
3. We see here the real nature of the change that is necessary in order to adoption into the redeemed family of God—a radical change of the governing feeling of the heart in relation to God. Regeneration is the inner antecedent of the conversion of the entire man.
4. Young men may take warning against the terrible power of evil when once thee break the bonds of love to parents, and in this first and chief sin they have the germ of unspeakable crimes and woes.
5. Let those who in the height of sinful prosperity imagine that all is going well, remember that, though they thus rejoice, yet for all these things God will bring them into judgment (Ecc_11:9).
6. Both the righteous and the wicked may accept it as a certainty that, in some way or other, the very inanimate creation will sooner or later be subservient to the ends of justice.
7. The best monument we can rear to ourselves, or that others can raise to our memory, is that blessed memory of the just which rests on a life of love to earthly parents and righteous fulfilment of all the obligations we owe to God and man.
I. THAT LIFE MAY IN DIFFERENT MEN BE CONDUCTED ON DIFFERENT AND TOTALLY IRRECONCILABLE PRINCIPLES. Here was a simple countryman unwilling to touch the life of Absalom, solely because of the king's commandment (verses 5, 12, 13). The question of the prudence or imprudence of the act was not for a moment entertained. Obedience to the royal authority was the prime duty. This belief was the governing rule of conduct. No imaginary advantage to Israel, no example or persuasion of a great general, could turn the man from this fixed principle. On the other hand, Joab swept aside an such forceful pressure of supreme obligation to the royal will, because his conduct was governed, in this case at least, by a worldly wisdom, a consideration of what seemed to himself to be the best thing to do—a policy of expediency. There was a general admission of the existence and value of what the countryman regarded as primary principles of conduct on the part of subjects; but theory was good for theorists, and Joab was a man of deeds when matters were urgent! These men certainly represent two classes—those who accept first principles of obligation, primary conceptions of duty as lying at the very basis of society and of the individual life; and those who, while formally admitting the existence and propriety of such principles, nevertheless set them aside whenever, for prudential reasons, they think it well to do so. There are such primary principles: in government, the law of the ruler is supreme; in the family, e.g; the expressed will of the father is binding; in matters of religion, e.g; God prohibits unholiness of feeling, malice, cruelty, and commands men to repent, believe, and in all things do justly, irrespective of consequences. There are men who do base their action on these principles. But there are men who, like Joab, break the law of their land, and set aside supreme authority for reasons of their own; there are children who violate the fundamental principle of domestic order, because their judgment goes against their parents; there are men of the world who dare to disobey the Eternal King's commandment in relation to repentance, faith, and unswerving righteousness of life, for reasons which seem to them sufficient at the time. Do all Christians follow out the regal commands as to righteousness in all things? Is there not too much expediency in Christian conduct (cf. Mat_6:1-34.)?
II. CONDUCT BASED ON PROMPT RECOGNITION OF FIRST PRINCIPLES IS MORE LIKELY TO CHARACTERIZE UNSOPHISTICATED MEN THAN MEN IMMERSED IN THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS. This plain countryman simply followed the order of the king because the king's will to him was sacred. He was not learned in casuistry, not versed in diplomacy, not skilled in keeping the letter and violating the spirit of the Law. He was amazed that any one should think of deviating from a command so plain. Its justice or injustice, its prudence or imprudence, were no matters for him to settle. Law was binding. The king must be obeyed. This was the instinct of a guileless nature. The force of the principle of obedience to the authority of God's anointed was recognized, because his spirit was politically and morally sound and pure. Joab was a man of the world, a man of many designs and combinations of thought, a man whose purity and guilelessness were gone. In the struggle of high and low principles within his nature, pure principle was deprived of its native force. Our Saviour, in reference to much higher matters, points out this difference of conduct proceeding from difference of character, when he thanks his Father that "these things," which were bidden from the "wise and prudent," were "revealed unto babes" (Mat_11:25, Mat_11:26). We must become as little children—guileless, unsophisticated, quick to act on primary principles apart from the warping influences of worldly prudence, if we would enter his kingdom and be as he was. There may be advantages in being versed in affairs, familiar with the tricks and ways of men, and famed for astuteness and such like qualities; but on the whole, in matters of pure right and strict adherence to clear duty to God and man, the guileless man is most likely to be the most dependable. Moral intuitions are swift in the pure hearted, and to debate their applicability is at once to weaken their force.
III. CIRCUMSTANCES MAY ARISE IN WHICH DEVIATION FROM PRIMARY PRINCIPLES MAY AT FIRST APPEAR MOST CONFORMABLE TO REASON. On the face of it most men would have said that Joab was justified in setting aside conscientious scruples about the sacredness of the royal command. The rebel deserved death, the only place of restraint for him was the grave, the king's paternal feelings were a danger to the state, Providence had evidently put Absalom's life in the hands of Joab, and the king would be sure to condone the deed,—all this might be said with force. So may it be argued still. Immediate repentance may be right; but surely a man whose livelihood is at stake may be cautious, and not by a sudden change of life bring himself and family into poverty! "Love your enemies" is a Divine command; but we are not so good as was he who gave the command, and so he will condone our cherishing some hatred! Be truthful in word and deed is the meaning to us all of Christ's life; but the pressure of business and the difficulties of diplomacy in national affairs are such that we cannot take this grand law of life into all departments of activity! Thus by arguments apparently conclusive the "commandments of God" are "made of none effect."
IV. THE TRUE INTERESTS OF ALL LIE IN ADHERENCE TO PRIMARY PRINCIPLES. Joab, by his deviation from the king's command, while seeming to secure an advantage to the state, was really sowing the seed of rebellion; for it set aside the supreme law, and its natural tendency was to weaken the royal authority throughout Israel. To gain a temporary advantage at the cost of damning the force of a cardinal truth is no real gain in the end, for the consequences of such an injury are incalculable. Once impair the supremacy of right principles in the national or individual mind, and you have prepared the way for all kinds of degeneracy. God never departs from right, and his ways always come out right. Moral principles are as rind in their demand for implicit and full recognition as any laws of physics, and they vindicate their neglect with as absolute a certainty. Christ has made it clear that strict and severe adherence to his authority alone will issue well. The sermon on the mount is a statement of unconditioned practical truth. The Church of Christ would have done more for the world had this sermon been more recognized, apart from the limitations of accommodating rules of interpretation.
2Sa_18:19-33
The facts are:
1. Ahimaaz being eager to convey tidings of victory to the king, is denied permission by Joab, who, however, sends Cushi.
2. Persisting in his desire to run after Cushi, Joab at last allows him to go.
3. The watchman at the gate of the city reports to the king that a runner is in sight, followed by another, whereupon David takes courage, and hopes for good news.
4. On Ahimaaz being the first to arrive, he briefly announces that all is well, and then prostrates himself before the king, and blesses God for having brought victory to the king's cause.
5. David, in his deep concern for Absalom, inquires after his safety, and receives from Ahimaaz an evasive reply.
6. Just then Cushi comes in and announces tidings of victory, and, in answer to the question as to Absalom's safety, bluntly makes known the fact of his death.
7. The king, overwhelmed with anguish, enters his chamber, and there pours out his soul in a most pathetic lamentation.
I. IN CARRYING ON HUMAN AFFAIRS THERE ARE OCCASIONS REQUIRING THE PERFORMANCE OF DISAGREEABLE WORK. It was a pleasant thing to have to announce to David a great victory over his foes, but far from pleasant to have to tell him what had become of his son, and who had slain him. On a former occasion, when evil tidings, blended with news of the fail of a foe, was brought to him, it went ill with the bearer (2Sa_1:13-16). In this case the disagreeable work arose out of the wrong deeds of Joab. One evil created another. Disobedience to absolute authority cannot but bring the transgressor into an awkward position and impose unpleasant obligations. The flow of human life is a flow of work. In consequence of transgression against God, and violation of social order, an immense amount of annoying work has to be done. The sons of Jacob, after the sale of their brother, found difficult work on their hands. The imperfect life in the Church creates the necessity of doing things that pain the tender heart, and which is more adapted to rough and hard men. Evil deeds create duties which always carry with them more or less of pain and sorrow.
II. THERE IS A NATURAL AFFINITY BETWEEN CERTAIN CHARACTERS AND DISAGREEABLE FORMS OF WORK. The reasons for Joab's rejection of Ahimaaz were probably these: fear lest he should so state the facts as to prejudice David against himself, and belief that his nature was too tender and sympathetic for what he regarded as the proper delivery of the dark side of the message. Joab was a hard and blunt man, and he wanted such a man for a work which, because disagreeable, had better be got rid of as quickly as possible. If David should be angry with the Cushite, and slay him, Joab would not care for that, provided, in the blunt and straight announcement of Absalom's death, no tenderness was displayed and no effort made to compromise himself. Such men as he scorn tenderness as weakness. They abhor what they term "sentiment." Joab's character fitted him to send the painful tidings so bluntly and unfeelingly announced by Cushi (2Sa_18:31, 2Sa_18:32). As a rule, character finds work in affinity with itself, and Joab was right in the adaptation he sought for his purpose. As character is often a prophecy of work that will be done when occasion arises, so work done is often a revelation of character. Not any one can be a hangman. Not any one can be a consoler of the sick and dying. Even in the Christian Church there are kinds of work for which a peculiar firmness and almost severity of character is most suited. Only an Ambrose could overawe an emperor. On the other hand, most departments of Church work give scope for men of the Ahimaaz stamp rather than that of Cushi.
III. AN INJURED CONSCIENCE READILY ADAPTS ITSELF TO PAINFUL WORK ISSUING OUT OF FORMER VIOLENCE TO ITSELF. Joab had done violence to his conscience in positive disobedience to the king's commands (2Sa_18:12-14). As every wrong to conscience renders its testimony for right the feebler, it was comparatively easy to frame a blunt, unsympathizing message for the Cushite to deliver to the king. There was as real disregard for David's feelings in the framing of the hard, unfeeling message as in setting aside his command to spare the life of Absalom. Thus it is seen that the human conscience has the wonderful and terrible power of adapting itself to the environment produced by its own abuse, and so of being continuously affected for evil. A "seared conscience" is another expression for the gradual deterioration of sensibility produced by the enforced habit of accommodating itself to deeds which are the natural outcome of former misdeeds.
I. A JUST AND GOOD CAUSE. There may be great enthusiasm, but it may be wicked because manifested in an evil cause. It was to the honour of the son of Zadok that all the force of his nature was devoted to the righteous claims of the Lord's anointed. He had identified himself with the servant of Jehovah in the day of trouble. In the great conflict of his age he was on the right side. This is the primary consideration with us all in the exercise of our powers, whether the questions at issue be political, social, or religious. We can take no credit for enthusiasm, and indeed it will be otherwise our sin, unless we take pains to see that we side with what is essentially just and good. Energy spent in advocacy or encouragement of a party, a movement, a system, a belief, or a practice, is not of moral worth apart from conscientious motive. Especially in the supreme question of every age, the claims of Christ as against the demand on our submission and service of lower and often unholy claims, the question comes—On which slide are we? Are we with the rightful King or with his adversaries?
II. ENTIRE SELF-DEVOTION. Ahimaaz had deliberately identified the whole interests of his life with the cause of the exiled king. He was not a mere observer of the conflict. His very life had been at stake when he entered into the compact (2Sa_15:27, 2Sa_15:33) and sought out the banished monarch. He had gone out to fight the battle with Joab, and was most eager to render the choicest service on the close of the day of victory. Enthusiasm which consists of approval and delight in the season of prosperity, or in verbal admiration, is of no substantial worth. The men who crossed hill and dale and lake because of the bread they ate (Joh_6:24-27) were not the whole-hearted disciples Christ cared to have. Christ would have the entire life (Luk_9:59-62).
III. PROMPT ACTION IN EMERGENCIES. The reality of this young man's enthusiasm appeared in his ready offer of the special powers with which he was endowed to the urgency of the hour. He laid his best and most cultivated gifts at the service of his king just when they were most required. It is a characteristic of entire absorption in Christ's work that there is not only the primal and imreserved surrender of life and all its interests to him and his kingdom, but also, as time passes on, a quick perception of entire work is needed, and an instant readiness to use any aptitude possessed for doing the work. "Here am I; send me," is the feeling of true enthusiasm when any emergency arises. There are beautiful instances of the free and prompt devotion of special gifts to the service of Christ when occasions suddenly arise requiring them. Are men smitten with plague or sword? Nurses skilled in care of the sick are at hand. Does calamity come on a house or village? There are eager feet swift to carry gospel consolations.
IV. TRUE SYMPATHY GUIDING ACTION. It was the deep and genuine sympathy of Ahimaaz with what he knew were the most tender and sacred feelings of the king's heart that made him eager to go, and both gladden him with news of God's deliverance, and at the same time gently break the news of his personal loss. This gave extra speed to his fleet steps, and this explains his reference to God's goodness (2Sa_18:28), and also his evident desire to prepare the king for sad tidings (2Sa_18:29). He felt too much for that noble, generous heart to blurt out the intelligence which he knew would crush it. There is great value in a servant