#461 Return of the King

And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for Absalom.

2 And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son.

3 And the people gat them by stealth that day into the city, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.

4 But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!

5 And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, which this day have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines;

6 In that thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends. For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well.

7 Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy servants: for I swear by the Lord, if thou go not forth, there will not tarry one with thee this night: and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that befell thee from thy youth until now.

8 Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent.

9 And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king saved us out of the hand of our enemies, and he delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he is fled out of the land for Absalom.

10 And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back?

11 And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, even to his house.

12 Ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my flesh: wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the king?

13 And say ye to Amasa, Art thou not of my bone, and of my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab.

14 And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man; so that they sent this word unto the king, Return thou, and all thy servants.

15 So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over Jordan.

16 And Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite, which was of Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David.

17 And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went over Jordan before the king.

18 And there went over a ferry boat to carry over the king's household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king, as he was come over Jordan;

19 And said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.

20 For thy servant doth know that I have sinned: therefore, behold, I am come the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.

21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the Lord's anointed?

22 And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?

23 Therefore the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And the king sware unto him.

24 And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace.

25 And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest not thou with me, Mephibosheth?

26 And he answered, My lord, O king, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon, and go to the king; because thy servant is lame.

27 And he hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God: do therefore what is good in thine eyes.

28 For all of my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the king?

29 And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land.

30 And Mephibosheth said unto the king, Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house.

31 And Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan.

32 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old: and he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man.

33 And the king said unto Barzillai, Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem.

34 And Barzillai said unto the king, How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king unto Jerusalem?

35 I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king?

36 Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king: and why should the king recompense it me with such a reward?

37 Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham; let him go over with my lord the king; and do to him what shall seem good unto thee.

38 And the king answered, Chimham shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee: and whatsoever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee.

39 And all the people went over Jordan. And when the king was come over, the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him; and he returned unto his own place.

40 Then the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him: and all the people of Judah conducted the king, and also half the people of Israel.

41 And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said unto the king, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and have brought the king, and his household, and all David's men with him, over Jordan?

42 And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to us: wherefore then be ye angry for this matter? have we eaten at all of the king's cost? or hath he given us any gift?

43 And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than ye: why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel. 2 Samuel 19 KJV

Those who live or wish to live in the public eye, that would be set upon such lofty places, must also reason that they are of constant watch and conversation. The struggles in my heart would be the same as yours or a kings, unfortunately they remain men in this position, they may grow wiser but not smarter. They rely on the strength of those around them, the counsel of those that can pull themselves away from the spotlight and look to edges of the shadows. What is really happening, what is occurring past the eyes of the king? Joab, like myself, is an arrogant prick, one who loves to say I told you so, and good for him, he is right about much again, but not much of a friend. Faithful are the wounds even so, for whether your delivery sucks or not, if you are correct then I cannot shut my ears and avoid being a fool at the same time. The son that was born into sin, yet died without practicing it, to him David said, I can go to him, but he cannot come back to me. Oh the pain of not knowing or worse, of being pretty sure, if not positive, the place of Absalom's eternal destiny. Damn, being the king is horrible, I would rather retire at this point to the wilderness, for who but God can console me? Everyone else, my own heart will only lie to me, and the people take this as an offense to them, but it is with heavy heart and a guilty conscience, I ponder why I did not fight so much the harder for his soul. Now I know only what I was not to him when he was alive. Now I have to wash my face, though I don't feel regal. I must stand before the armies of the Lord, though my sins have found me out. I must receive honor that I cannot deserve, it must belong to someone else, because I am the father of this misery. Absalom, oh Absalom. Jerusalem, oh Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets, how I have longed to take you under my wing. David is a man, broken, and yes he is the king as well, so he must stand up and put this aside for quieter times.

They remember him, oh yea, this is he who was chosen of the Lord, who delivered us from our enemies. This is he whom we betrayed for the lip service of his son, the lion that we replaced with the cub. This is he who has served us well, and this is Israel's approach back to him. He has defeated the evil that rose up, has wrestled down his own demons, exercised patience in adversity, while the faithful have torn down the idol that would pretend at him. He could come in now by force but puts forth the invitation clearly, they are being drawn by their memories, of the truths about him, and they argue amongst themselves at why they have not invited him back. He asked his own tribe, Judah, bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, why are you the last to invite me back? And you see them pondering this at the end of the tribulation, after the disappointment of the antichrist, that he was just a pretender who spoke well. We chased out the king, followed him down the street, heaping insults. He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We pretended that we didn't know him. We were angry when they referred to him as the king since he was not the king of our hearts or choosing. We hung him on a tree outside the city like one who deserved this, He became a curse for us, we gave Him a new name, that means "blot this name out." Remove Him from our memories. We called Him a blasphemer, but God called Him, Son.

David is coming home to Jerusalem, he has waited upon the Lord, and the Lord has delivered him. Shimei has nothing but nice things to say to him now, what an empty man, a reed blown about in the wind. The king is kinder than his servants, and this is why it is better for him to be king. You should ask yourself when you sit in the place of judgment, is this too much? What would I want in this man's place? Is there anyway to turn this about, will he let me help him? Love tries so hard out building bridges back up, but pride may still find a way to build a bigger bomb. I pray for hope, but some despise mercy, lie to the face of grace, and are too entitled to hear what help actually sounds like. Mephibosheth is truly beautiful, and does not even want to contest with the man who has done him such a disservice. I don't know if David had turned into Oprah, and everyone was getting a car today, a blanket amnesty, but after finding out the deceit of Ziba, he only ask that they split the land. Maybe it is not all together clear to him, or he remembers how grateful he was when Ziba showed up with the supplies. So maybe he errs on the side of caution, he does not want to find either man a liar, but I think it becomes clear in the joy of Mephibosheth, that his words are much like that of a Jonathan. He is the kings friend, and if I could have proved it I would have dealt with Ziba for this slander. Such ill planted deceit has cost good and innocent men their lives. I would want to know, but there is so much going on here. I love what Mephibosheth says, "let him take all for as much as my lord the king is returned unto his house." I don't deserve to be here, I have sat at your table in my infirmity, unable to repay your kindness, and you have been like a father to me. We were enemies by birth and you by your call, who you are, yet you invited me in. I am just happy to be here with you, I was sick without your presence.

Oh and at the end of it all they are all under one king, but they would be divided in it. Who shall have the most say in him? No wonder we can't see Christ's kingdom, and we shall never see so well the greatest among us here. We are too busy anointing ourselves, thinking how much better things would be if we were in charge, not realizing we could move mountains if we did what we were supposed to do where we are at. Lift up the name of Jesus, take it off of you, because you can only do what those before you have already done.  

11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matthew 23: 11&12