Here I Am

Absalom's rebellion grew from a careful campaign. He displayed royal style with a chariot, horses, and fifty runners. Each morning at the gate he intercepted people seeking justice, declared their cause good, criticized the king's lack of deputies, and wished aloud that he were judge. With handshakes and kisses he stole the hearts of the men of Israel. At the end of forty years, as the text counts them, he went to Hebron, where David had first reigned, claiming to pay a vow, and there he was proclaimed king. David's own counselor Ahithophel joined the conspiracy.

David fled to spare the city. Many stayed loyal. Ittai the Gittite, an exile only recently arrived, swore that wherever the king was, whether for death or for life, he would be there. The priests Zadok and Abiathar came carrying the ark, but David told Zadok to carry it back into the city. His words show deep surrender: if God delighted in him, He would bring him back; if not, Here I am. Let him do to me as seems good to him.

The king climbed the Mount of Olives, weeping, head covered, and barefoot, and all the people with him wept. When told that Ahithophel was among the conspirators, David prayed that Yahweh would turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness. Almost at once God provided an answer: Hushai the Archite met him with torn clothes. David sent him back to Jerusalem to pretend loyalty to Absalom and defeat Ahithophel's counsel, passing word through the priests' sons.