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David now had new troubles.
When he was young, he was troubled by Saul; when he was old, he was
troubled by his own children. God sent sorrow to David now, to
punish his sin. Sin is always the cause of sorrow. David
had many sons; and some of them were very wicked. One was named
Absalom, and another Amnon. These two brothers did not live in love
and peace together; Absalom hated Amnon, and would not speak to him.
Hatred was in the heart of Absalom a long time, and it grew stronger and
stronger, till at last he determined to kill his brother Amnon; for he
could not rest while he lived. Hatred
often ends in murder. The Bible says, "He that hateth his
brother is a murderer." When we feel anger beginning to rise in
our hearts, we ought to ask God to take it away, and make us full of
love. We cannot tell how hatred may end. How
did Absalom kill his brother? He thought he would kill him slyly,
without his father's knowledge; so he made a great feast, and invited all
his brothers; and commanded his servants to kill Amnon when he came.
Amnon came to the feast. And when they were all merry, the servants
rushed in, and smote Amnon, and killed him. All his brothers were
frightened, and fled; and Absalom fled too, because he was afraid that
David might punish him for the murder. The
king soon heard the sad story; and he arose, and rent his clothes, and lay
on the ground, and wept; and all his sons wept too. Where
was Absalom? He escaped to Geshur, and staid there three
years. David did not see him all that time. One son was gone
away; and another son was dead. David mourned for them both.
At last, Joab came to the king, and begged that Absalom might come
home. David wanted to forgive his wicked son, for he still loved
him; so he told Joab to send, and bring Absalom from Geshur. But
David would not see his son; so Absalom said at his own house in
Jerusalem. Was David right to let Absalom come back? No;
Absalom was a wicked murderer, and God had commanded murderers to be put
to death; but David loved Absalom, and spared him. All the people
admired him, and liked to look at him. God looks at people's hearts,
not at their persons. He does not not care for beauty; He wants
holiness, and love, and gentleness, and humility; and Absalom had none of
these. Two years passed
after Absalom's return, and David had not seen him. Then Absalom
began to be impatient and angry. He was not sorry for his sin; but
he did not like to be punished. He sent for Joab, but Joab did not
come. Then Absalom sent again, but still Joab did not come. At
last Absalom grew very angry. There was a field, belonging to Joab,
near Absalom's house; and Absalom, in his passion, sent his servants to
set it on fire. When Joab saw his field burning, he went to Absalom,
and asked, "Why have thy servants set my field on fire?"
Absalom answered, "Because I sent for thee, and thou didst not
come. Go now to the king, and ask why I am come from Geshur; I might
as well have staid there still. Let me see the king's
face." This was a very disrespectful message to his
father. Absalom did not show himself sorry for his wickedness, and
willing to be humble and obedient. But David loved his son so much,
that, when he heard the message, he sent for Absalom, for he wished to
forgive him. So Absalom came to his father, and bowed before him;
and the king kissed Absalom. Absalom
pretended to be sorry, but he was not truly so; his heart was full of
pride and rebellion still. Soon after, he prepared chariots and
horses, and fifty men to run before him. And when he saw the people
going to the king for judgment, he often called to them, and spoke kindly
to them, and asked them what they wanted; for Absalom wished to make the
people love him more than they loved his father. He wanted to be
king himself; and said he should be a better king than David. The
people attended to what Absalom said, and many of them promised to obey
and love him as their king. David knew nothing about this, for
Absalom was very sly, and deceived his father. He said to David,
"Let me go now and pay my vow in Hebron: for I vowed when I was
in Geshur, that if the Lord would bring me back to Jerusalem, then I would
serve Him." David was pleased to hear this; for he hoped his
disobedient son was going to begin to love and serve the Lord; so he said
to Absalom, "Go in peace." Why
did Absalom go to Hebron? Not to offer sacrifice, not to worship
God: he went there to make himself king. He told the people
when they heard the trumpet, to shout, and say, "Absalom reigns in
Hebron." Very man of the people were in the conspiracy, but a
few were still faithful to David; and a messenger came, and told him the
news about his wicked son's rebellion. What
could David do? He had very little time to think; for Absalom might
soon come to Jerusalem, and kill him, and the faithful people. So
David said, "Let us arise and flee." All David's servants
were ready to follow him; and they went away from Jerusalem as fast as
possible, and came to the brook Kidron. All
the people wept with a loud voice, when they saw their master escaping
from his cruel son. Who
were with David? His servants, and soldiers, and many of his
faithful friends; and the priests and Levites with the ark of God.
But when they had passed over the brook, David told the priests to carry
the ark back to the city. He hoped God would have mercy on him, and
bring him back there too; but if not, he was willing for God to do as He
pleased; for he knew all He did would be right. The priests were to
go to Jerusalem; and David said he would stay in the wilderness till they
sent for him. So the priests, Zadok and Abiathar, carried the ark
back, and David and his friends went on to Mount Olivet. As David
went up the hill, he wept, and all the people wept too; for they did not
know if they should ever return home again. David
heard that a man named Ahithophel was among the conspirators.
Ahithophel was a very wicked man. But David knew that God was wiser
than Ahithophel, and he prayed to be delivered from Ahithophel's power. When
they came to the top of the mountain, David worshiped God. In all
his troubles he had one friend who never forsook him: God was always
near to help and comfort him. When Jesus was upon earth, he loved to
go to Mount Olivet to pray. It was a quiet place, where he might be
alone. Jesus had more sorrows than David. He knows what
trouble is; and He can comfort His people when they are in trouble.
He sees all their sorrows, and feels for them when they are in difficulty
and pain; and will give them comfort when all earthly friends have
forsaken them.
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