Day 91. 2 Samuel 14-15

Our reading for today is filled with mischief and palace intrigue, and the narrative is a little difficult to follow. The genius behind much of it is Joab, the King David's commander who is also a supporter of the king's son, Absalom. We are led to believe that it is with his own interests that Joab's loyalties lie. He hires a "wise woman"(14:1)—she is actually an accomplished actress--to pretend to be a widow and tell David a made-up story about a fight between her two sons that has resulted in the accidental death of one of them. Joab coaches her on how to manipulate David's emotions and get him compromise justice and pardon her guilty son (14:11). And having done so, she uses flattery to get David to "change the course of affairs (14:20) and to swear to bring his own guilty son Absalom home (14:21). In many ways an ideal king, David's emotions remain his weak point, causing him at crucial points in his career to betray himself into
disaster.
Once again in Jerusalem, it is then an easy step for Absalom, as charming as he is handsome, to work his way back into the king's good graces. In a passage that closely resembles Jesus' parable of the "prodigal son," David forgives Absalom and welcomes him back with a kiss (14:33). The stage is set for tragedy.
Absalom is a bad lot, a murderer and an arsonist (14:30), willing to do anything to realize his ambitions. As soon as he is back at court, he begins to conspire against his father, using all the arts of the politician to steal the hearts of the people (15:6). The conspiracy grows in strength, and the people who are with Absalom keep increasing (15:12). Finally things reach the point where the king is forced to flee from the capital with his family and court officials (15:16).
But even at the lowest ebb of his power, David continues to trust the LORD and to await God's decision about his future (15:25); he refuses to repeat the sin of Saul and take matters into his own hands. And David's loyalty continues to inspire loyalty in others. Betrayed by his son, David's Gittites, the Philistine bodyguard who had attached themselves to him during his outlaw days, refuse to leave him (15:21). The priests also remain loyal, and even as the king leaves Jerusalem, David's friend, his trusted advisor Hushai, returns to Jerusalem to organize intelligence and report what the rebels are up to (15:36).