Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 176
164
IMMERSE
•
KINGDOMS
2S
| 18:29–19:11
before the king with his face to the ground and said, “Praise to the Lord
your God, who has handed over the rebels who dared to stand against my
lord the king.”
“What about young Absalom?” the king demanded. “Is he all right?”
Ahimaaz replied, “When Joab told me to come, there was a lot of commotion. But I didn’t know what was happening.”
“Wait here,” the king told him. So Ahimaaz stepped aside.
Then the man from Ethiopia arrived and said, “I have good news for
my lord the king. Today the Lord has rescued you from all those who
rebelled against you.”
“What about young Absalom?” the king demanded. “Is he all right?”
And the Ethiopian replied, “May all of your enemies, my lord the king,
both now and in the future, share the fate of that young man!”
The king was overcome with emotion. He went up to the room over
the gateway and burst into tears. And as he went, he cried, “O my son
Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you!
O Absalom, my son, my son.”
Word soon reached Joab that the king was weeping and mourning for
Absalom. As all the people heard of the king’s deep grief for his son, the
joy of that day’s victory was turned into deep sadness. They crept back into
the town that day as though they were ashamed and had deserted in battle.
The king covered his face with his hands and kept on crying, “O my son
Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”
Then Joab went to the king’s room and said to him, “We saved your
life today and the lives of your sons, your daughters, and your wives and
concubines. Yet you act like this, making us feel ashamed of ourselves. You
seem to love those who hate you and hate those who love you. You have
made it clear today that your commanders and troops mean nothing to
you. It seems that if Absalom had lived and all of us had died, you would
be pleased. Now go out there and congratulate your troops, for I swear by
the Lord that if you don’t go out, not a single one of them will remain here
tonight. Then you will be worse off than ever before.”
So the king went out and took his seat at the town gate, and as the news
spread throughout the town that he was there, everyone went to him.
Meanwhile, the Israelites who had supported Absalom fled to their homes.
And throughout all the tribes of Israel there was much discussion and argument going on. The people were saying, “The king rescued us from our
enemies and saved us from the Philistines, but Absalom chased him out
of the country. Now Absalom, whom we anointed to rule over us, is dead.
Why not ask David to come back and be our king again?”
Then King David sent Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, to say to the