(32) And it came to pass, that when David was come to the top of the mount, where he worshipped God, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat rent, and earth upon his head: (33) Unto whom David said, If thou passest on with me, then thou shalt be a burden unto me: (34) But if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom, I will be thy servant, O king; as I have been thy father's servant hitherto, so will I now also be thy servant: then mayest thou for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel. (35) And hast thou not there with thee Zadok and Abiathar the priests? therefore it shall be, that what thing soever thou shalt hear out of the king's house, thou shalt tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. (36) Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz Zadok's son, and Jonathan Abiathar's son; and by them ye shall send unto me everything that ye can hear. (37) So Hushai David's friend came into the city, and Absalom came into Jerusalem.
Here we find David at his devotions. Not all the hurry of business, nor all the precipitancy of flight, could stop the fervor of David in his communion with God. The title of the third Psalm gives us an acquaintance with the sum and substance of David's prayer, what he said to the Lord upon this occasion: and very sweet the petitions are, to which I refer the Reader. He complains of the number, and of the malice of his enemies: but takes refuge in God, both as a sun and shield, to whom salvation alone belonged. Probably David poured out his soul to the Lord as he ascended the mount, weeping and praying as he went, and even praising God through all. Beautiful pattern for afflicted souls! Whether suffering under the effects of sin, the ungraciousness of children, or of the world. See Psalms 3:1. The coming of Hushai seems to have been providential. And the event fully justified the advice of David in the moment.
REFLECTIONS
PAUSE, Reader! over the perusal of this Chapter, and in the contemplation both of the father and of the son, David and Absalom, learn to observe what nature is, and how much grace is needed to correct and reform poor fallen man. Behold in Absalom the awful consequence of indulging the corrupt and pampered passions of children. Had David, as a king in Israel, followed up the divine law, in punishing him for murder, painful as it might have been to nature, yet perhaps the Lord would then have sent his servant the Prophet to interpose; and Absalom being convicted and convinced of the atrocious sin of murdering his brother, would have called forth mercy in his exemplary sorrow and repentance. At least this effect would have been produced by it, that he could not so shortly after have been found in open rebellion against his father. But, when David in the feeling of the father lost sight of his duty as a king, and took again to his bosom the murderer of a son, can it be wondered at, that the serpent so fostered should sting him, or that the wretch forgiven the blood-shedding of a brother, should so ripen in iniquity, as to aim the dagger at the father! Oh! what hath sin wrought in our fallen nature! What is not the heart of man capable of devising in evil, void of divine grace!
Reader! let us remark in David also, how sure God's judgments are, and how certain it is that our sin will find us out. How much more amiable David appears in ascending the hill of Olivet, weeping as he went, than when triumphing in his conquests over Bath-sheba and Uriah! How very gracious the Lord is in condescending to correct his people, in order to bring their hearts home to him, when without those corrections they would wander from him forever.
Precious Jesus! how dear are thy recoveries! Oh! how very sweet, to thy people, are thy many, many redemptions. Yes! dearest Lord, thou hast not only redeemed us to God by thy blood; but the everlasting efficacy of thy precious blood-shedding and righteousness, again and again pleads for us, when by our frequent departures, thy corrections for our recovery are rendered necessary, Oh! Lord! grant that such may be the views, both of him that writes and him that reads, (if it be thy blessed will), of all thy tender corrections for our trespasses, that though thou mayest bring us down by affliction, our faith may yet be assured thou wilt not cast us off: though we are, chastened, yet not destroyed. Though in us there is nothing of worth, yet with Jesus there is perpetual merit. He ever liveth to make intercession; and his blood cleansed from all sin. Now, Lord, would I sing that song, even before I quit this mortal life; and ere long I shall chant it loud amidst the heavenly host: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood.