Absalom defeated
2 Samuel 16:15 – 18:18
David’s spies do their work well and manage to convince Absalom to take their own bad advice over the good advice he receives from his own adviser. Further, they are able to get word to David of what is about to come his way so that he can be prepared.
David knows that he can easily defeat Absalom’s forces with all the advantages he has, and, despite Absalom’s treachery, instructs his own men not to harm his son. Joab, though, finds Absalom helpless and kills him.
By coincidence two of the proverbs we read today could easily apply to David’s actions concerning Absalom; one of them makes David look good and one makes him look bad.
In the first, David can be seen as being slow to winnow out the wicked. With Absalom as with Saul he is slow to attack those who are evil and wish him ill.
On the other hand, David exemplifies the love and faithfulness that are said to keep a king safe.