2 Samuel 15:31

_AND ONE TOLD DAVID, SAYING, AHITHOPHEL IS AMONG THE CONSPIRATORS WITH ABSALOM. AND DAVID SAID, O LORD, I PRAY THEE, TURN THE COUNSEL OF AHITHOPHEL INTO FOOLISHNESS._ O Lord ... turn the counsel of Ahithophel. This senator being the mainstay of the conspiracy, his defection stung David most acutely (Psalms 40:1)....

31-37 David prays not against Ahithophel's person, but against his counsel. He prayed this, in firm belief that God has all hearts in his hand, and tongues also. But we must second our prayers with endeavours, and David did so, else we tempt God. But we do not find wisdom and simplicity so united in any mere man, that we can perceive nothing which needs forgiveness. Yet, when the Son of David was treated with all possible treachery and cruelty, his wisdom, meekness, candour, and patience, were perfect. Him let us follow, cleave to, and serve, in life and in death....

Verse 2 Samuel 15:31. _TURN THE COUNSEL OF AHITHOPHEL INTO FOOLISHNESS._] Ahithophel was a wise man, and well versed in state affairs; and God alone could confound his devices....

EXPOSITION 2 SAMUEL 15:1 AFTER THIS. The Hebrew is a more precise phrase than that on which we have commented on 2 Samuel 10:1 and 2 Samuel 13:1, and implies that Absalom began his devices soon after obtaining his liberty. CHARIOTS AND HORSES; Hebrew, _a chariot and horses; _that is, a chariot for state occasions, in which Absalom rode, while fifty footmen ran at his side. Probably his grandfather Talmai practised similar magnificence at Geshur. In India it is still common for men of rank to be attended by runners on foot, who will keep up with horses or elephants for an incredible distance....

AND [ONE] TOLD DAVID,.... That came either from Hebron or from Jerusalem: AHITHOPHEL [IS] AMONG THE CONSPIRATORS WITH ABSALOM; Absalom sent for him, and it seems he came to him, and continued with him, see 2 Samuel 15:12; AND DAVID SAID, O LORD, I PRAY THEE, TURN THE COUNSEL OF AHITHOPHEL INTO FOOLISHNESS; either suffer him to give foolish counsel, or confound the schemes projected by him, and let them not be carried into execution; for God can, and sometimes does, disappoint crafty counsellors, that they cannot perform what they devise, but they are taken in their own craftiness, and their counsel is carried headlong, Job 5:12; this prayer was answered, 2 Samuel 17:14.

5. ABSALOM'S CONSPIRACY AND DAVID'S FLIGHT CHAPTER 15 _ 1. Absalom steals the hearts of the men of Israel (2 Samuel 15:1)_ 2. His conspiracy (2 Samuel 15:7) 3. The flight of the king (2 Samuel 15:13) The beautiful prince gradually prepared for the great conspiracy of which we read now and which made of his own father the Lord's anointed, an exile. Chariots and horses with fifty men to run before him won no doubt the admiration of the people. His evident interest in their welfare, kissing those who sought his presence and advice, endeared him still more to the men of Israel. To this must be added his open words, which must have quickly circulated among the people, “Oh, that

2 Samuel 15:1 to 2 Samuel 16:14. REVOLT OF ABSALOM. FLIGHT OF DAVID (J). 2 Samuel 15:1. Absalom makes himself popular by professing an interest in the litigation of the people. 2 SAMUEL 15:7. After four years (so read with Syr. and some texts of LXX), having obtained the king's permission on a false pretext, Absalom goes to Hebron and organises revolt. 2 SAMUEL 15:12. GILOH: Joshua 15:51....

TOLD DAVID. The news came when the trial was greatest. Compare Psalms 41:9 with Psalms 55:12...

Hushai commissioned to defeat Ahithophel 30. _the ascent of_mount _Olivet_ Lit. BY THE ASCENT OF OLIVES: the name _mount Olivet_is derived from _mons oliveti_in the Vulgate of Acts 1:12. The "mount of Olives" is the ridge which rises on the east of Jerusalem above the Kidron ravine, screening the city from the desert country beyond. With the exception of this touching scene, there is little of interest connected with the Mount of Olives in the O. T. On it, perhaps on the spot already consecrated for worship (2 Samuel 15:32), Solomon erected high places for the false gods of his foreign wives (1 Kings 11:7-8), which were desecrated long afterwards by Josiah ...

_David's Counterplot._ 2 Samuel 15:29-37 29 Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem: and they tarried there. 30 And David went up by the ascent of _mount_ Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot: and all the people that _was_ with him covered every man his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up. 31 And _one_ told David, saying, Ahithophel _is_ among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O Lord, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. 32 And it came to pass, that _when_ David was come to the top _of the mount_, where he worshiped God, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat rent, and earth upon his head: 33 Unto whom David said, If thou passest on with me, then thou shalt be a burden unto me: 34 B