2 Samuel 19

2 Samuel 19:1

19:1-8 So great was the king’s sorrow that the people felt ashamed and guilty. They acted as if they were victims rather than victors. Joab was impatient with all this and delivered a stern rebuke to the king. He complained that David seemed more interested in his enemies than in his faithful followers, and that he was ungrateful to those who had saved his life. He warned that if David did not immediately show a kindly interest in his people, they would forsake him that night. David complied by taking a position by the gate of the city and talking to the people.

2 Samuel 19:9

H. David’s Return from Exile (19:9-43)19:9, 10 In the meantime confusion reigned in the land of Israel. All the people were quarreling among themselves. King David, who had saved them from . . . the Philistines, was in exile, they reasoned, and Absalom, their self-appointed ruler, was dead. A movement thus began to restore David to his throne. “Why do you say nothing about bringing back the king?” is an appropriate question for a sleeping church today. 19:11-15 When David heard that the ten tribes of Israel were talking about restoring him to the throne, he sent two priests to the elders of Judah, asking why they, his blood relatives, were the last to bring him back as king. Judah had supported Absalom heavily in the rebellion, and doubtless some resentment or fear lingered. David decided to remove Joab as commander in chief (probably because Joab had killed Absalom) and to appoint Amasa to take his place. Amasa, a nephew of David, had only recently been Absalom’s general. To outsiders it must have looked like David punished loyalty and rewarded rebellion, a government policy unlikely to produce political stability. But these moves won the hearts of all the men of Judah over to David’s side, and they sent a unanimous “welcome home” message to him. 19:16-23 Shimei, who had cursed David previously, and Ziba, who had slandered Mephibosheth, came rushing down to the Jordan River to meet the returning monarch. Shimei’s profuse apology was probably insincere; his great desire was to escape punishment now that David was in power again. In the enthusiasm of the moment, the king overruled Abishai’s desire to kill Shimei, and instead promised him amnesty. But David did not forget Shimei’s curses. He later ordered Solomon to deal ruthlessly with the foulmouthed Benjamite (1Ki_2:8-9). 19:24-30 Mephibosheth also came . . . to meet the king. It was obvious from his appearance that he had mourned David’s exile from the day it began. He had been truly loyal to the king, in spite of Ziba’s false charges against him. The king spoke rather roughly to him for not accompanying him into exile. Mephibosheth explained that he had asked his servant Ziba to saddle a donkey, and when Ziba had failed to do it, Mephibosheth was helpless, being a cripple. He stated frankly that Ziba had slandered him but that injustice did not matter as long as the king had returned.

When David rather unfairly ruled that Ziba and Mephibosheth should divide the land between them, the crippled son of Jonathan revealed the true loyalty of his heart: “Rather, let him take it all, inasmuch as my lord the king has come back in peace to his own house.“19:31-39 Barzillai, the eighty-year-old . . . Gileadite, was another true friend to David. He had provided the king with supplies at Mahanaim. Now he accompanied him to the Jordan. David invited him to go with him to Jerusalem, promising him that he would be well cared for. But Barzillai refused to go on the grounds of his short life expectancy, his inability to discern between what was pleasant and unpleasant, his loss of taste, and his deafness.

He would only be a further burden to . . . the king if he went. So he agreed to accompany David a little way past the Jordan and then return to his own city. His suggestion that Chimham (perhaps his son) should go with David was readily accepted. 19:40-43 By now a great procession had formedall the people of Judah . . . and half the men of the other tribesto bring the king back to Jerusalem. Internal strife broke out because Judah had taken such a prominent place in the restoration of the king (i.e., bringing him across the Jordan) without inviting the ten tribes to participate. Judah explained that David was their close relative and that they had not profited in any way above the others by taking the lead. The ten tribes argued that they had ten times as much right to participate as Judah. The fierceness of Judah’s words was an indication of the serious trouble that lay ahead.