24 Now behold, Zadok also came, and all the Levites with him, carrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar came up until all the people had finished crossing over from the city. 25 And the king said to Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the sight of the Lord, then He will bring me back and show me both it and His habitation. 26 But if He says this: ‘I have no delight in you,’ then here I am, let Him do to me as seems good [l]to Him.” 27 The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Return to the city in peace, and your two sons with you, your son Ahimaaz and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. 28 See, I am going to wait at the river crossing places of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” 29 So Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and remained there.
30 And David was going up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, and his head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. Then all the people who were with him each covered his own head, and they were going up, weeping as they went. 31 Now someone informed David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “Lord, please make the advice of Ahithophel foolish.”
32 It happened as David was coming to the summit, where God was worshiped, that behold, Hushai the Archite met him with his [m]coat torn, and [n]dust on his head. 33 And David said to him, “If you go over with me, then you will become a burden to me. 34 But if you return to the city and say to Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king; even as I was your father’s servant in time past, so now I will also be your servant,’ then you can foil the advice of Ahithophel for me. 35 Are Zadok and Abiathar the priests not with you there? So it shall be that whatever you hear from the king’s house, you shall report to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. 36 Behold their two sons are there with them, Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son and Jonathan, Abiathar’s son; and by them you shall send me everything that you hear.” 37 So Hushai, David’s friend, came into the city, and Absalom came into Jerusalem.
As David works to develop his “spy” network, there is one important thing that he does. The priests and levites knew that David had been chosen by God, and if David was leaving, they wanted to go where God’s favor rested.
But David sends Zadok & Abiathar back to Jerusalem, telling them that if God does indeed still favor him, then he will be back. David put his trust in God, even in this trying time. Though he doesn’t know what God’s plan is, David is willing to accept the outcome either way.
It’s easy for us to accept the outcome when we are blessed in the process, but it becomes much more difficult when it doesn’t look like things are going the way we want them to. We need to learn to trust God with the outcome, no matter what that might be. Ultimately, His plan is best. Anything we can come up with, if it isn’t from God, will be second best (or worse).