From Joy to Sorrow

King David’s men, by the blessing of God (18:28, 31), have defeated the massed Israelite army led by David’s rebellious son, Absalom. This foolish attempt to unseat God’s anointed king has come to a miserable conclusion. The wrong has failed, the right has prevailed. This is a day for rejoicing in Israel, a day for thanksgiving and celebration.

However, David, the chief beneficiary of the mercy of God in this case, is anything but joyous. Rather, he is filled with grief because Absalom has been killed, having paid the price for his rebellion against God’s rule and that of God’s anointed king. Abandoning himself to mourning, he neglects to give God thanks for His mercy and praise for His justice. But as we see in today’s passage, he also neglects his loyal soldiers, who risked taking his side in a time of civil war and who went to battle for him against a more powerful foe. So lost is he in his grief, David cannot even compose himself before his troops begin to arrive back at Mahanaim. As they return, word of the king’s sorrow spreads through the ranks, and the joy of the men is turned to mourning, too. As a result, instead of marching into Mahanaim in triumph, they steal back into the city like men who have something about which to be ashamed.

Joab is annoyed when he hears of David’s mourning and sees its effect on the troops. But he also perceives that David is creating a dangerous situation for himself. Thus, he takes action again, delivering a stunning rebuke to the king. First, he tells David that he has disgraced his men by failing to acknowledge and thank them for their service. He accuses David of acting as if he loves his enemies more than his friends (in a sense, this is true). He says David has shown that he has no respect for his officers and men. And he wraps up his tirade by speculating that David would be happier if Absalom had lived and all of his own men had died. To set things right, he advises David to go out and “speak comfort” to his men. And he urges him to do it right away lest he have another rebellion on his hands, one that potentially could be even worse than Absalom’s revolt.

To his credit, David receives this rebuke mildly and acts on it. He realizes God is speaking to him through Joab. He goes out to the gate and receives his troops, thanking them as they congratulate him.