2 Samuel 18

2 Samuel 18

As 2 Samuel 18 opens, David’s men are preparing for war. David gathered all his men together and then divided them into three separate groups. He also prepared himself for battle, and told his men where he would be. But those closest to David asked him to remain away from the heat of the battle lest he die. They understood his worth and knew that they needed his guidance once they regained the throne of Israel. So David listened to their requests, gave them further instructions, and remained by the gate of the city as they went out to battle.


At first glance it might appear as if David was retreating from the battle. Some might even think that he was frightened to go out to battle his son. But I do not believe that is the case here. An example of David selfishly remaining home away from battle was the time when he saw Bathsheba. As the king he should have been out with his men, and yet he stayed at home, and that one bad decision led to a series of bad decisions. In this case, David was prepared and willing to go, but his men persuaded him to stay. In this case, David was the target, not the entire nation of Israel. All Absalom was really concerned about was killing his father. Therefore, it was much better for Israel as a whole to allow David to remain away from the battle.

David’s men went out to battle against the rest of the Israelites, and it was a quick battle. The Lord was with David and his men, and He gave them the victory that day. The battle was widespread, and the death count was great. One of the many who were killed was Absalom. Now when David had given his men instructions for battle, he asked them to deal kindly with Absalom. In other words, David did not want them to kill him. So when one young soldier saw Absalom hanging in a tree (for he had been caught in a tree while riding his mule, and his mule ran off away from him), he ran to Joab to tell him that he had seen Absalom in battle. This angered Joab, and he asked the young man why he had not killed him, fearful of what Absalom could and would do as long as he was alive. The young man reminded Joab of what David had told them prior to the battle, but that is not what Joab wanted to hear.

Joab then went out to the place where the young man had seen Absalom, and along with then of his men, they killed Absalom as he was hanging in the tree. Knowing that this went against David’s commands, Joab did not want David to know about Absalom’s death yet. Furthermore, he knew that David would be upset with the one who brought the news. So first Joab did not allow anyone to leave and give David news of the victory, knowing that they would also have to give him news of Absalom’s death. So when one of David’s trusted men said he would go anyways, Joab also sent another soldier to go as well. The first man lied to David about Absalom’s death. He knew that Absalom had been killed, but afraid to upset David he hid that news from him. The other young soldier was truthful with David and told him all he knew. This sent David into another state of mourning, for he had lost yet another son.

So who was right in this situation? Absalom had to die or be contained if David ever wanted to regain the throne, but the cover up that surrounded Absalom’s death seems as if it could have been controversial. Should Joab have killed Absalom when David had asked them not to? Although it would help his king take the throne back, it was disobedience to his commands. Furthermore, should he have tried to cover up Absalom’s death? David would eventually find out, and would it not have been better to be truthful rather than David to find out that Joab had kept it from him? Finally, what about the first man that brought news to David? Why did he lie when he knew that Absalom was actually dead? In the end, Absalom’s death was the key to helping David return to power in Jerusalem. And although it would hurt David to know that his son had been killed, that was news that he needed to know. Even if it is hard, we should always tell the truth. Although that seems like such a simple lesson to draw from this passage, we all know how serious the consequences for lying can be. Think about some of the scandals we hear in the news. Many times the truth does not come out for years, but it does come out! We cannot hide from our lies and secrets forever, and when the truth does come out, it can be devastating. So although it may seem like such a simple lesson, one thing we can learn from this passage and from much of 2 Samuel in general, is to just tell the truth.

Matt