Absalom Killed
18 Then David [a]took a count of the people who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 And David sent the people out, a third [b]under the command of Joab, a third [c]under the command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and a third [d]under the command of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, “I myself will certainly go out with you also.” 3 But the people said, “You should not go out; for if in fact we flee, they will not care about us; and if half of us die, they will not care about us. But [e]you are [f]worth ten thousand of us; so now it is better that you will be ready to help us from the city.” 4 Then the king said to them, “Whatever seems best to you I will do.” So the king stood beside the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and thousands. 5 But the king commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, “Deal gently with the young man Absalom for my sake.” And all the people heard when the king commanded all the commanders regarding Absalom.
6 Then the people went out to the field against Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. 7 The people of Israel were [g]defeated there by the servants of David, and the slaughter there that day was great, twenty thousand men. 8 For the battle there was spread over the whole countryside, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.
9 Now Absalom encountered the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the branches of a massive oak. Then his head caught firmly in the oak, and he was [h]left hanging between the sky and earth, while the mule that was under him kept going. 10 When a certain man saw him, he informed Joab and said, “Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak.” 11 Then Joab said to the man who had informed him, “So behold, you saw him! Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? And it would have been [i]my duty to give you ten pieces of silver and a belt.” 12 But the man said to Joab, “Even if I were to [j]receive a thousand pieces of silver in my hand, I would not put out my hand against the king’s son; for in our hearing the king commanded you, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, ‘[k]Protect the young man Absalom for me!’ 13 Otherwise, if I had dealt treacherously against [l]his life (and there is nothing hidden from the king), then you yourself would have [m]avoided me.” 14 Then Joab said, “I will not [n]waste time here with you.” So he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the [o]midst of the oak. 15 And ten young men who carried Joab’s armor gathered around and struck Absalom and killed him.
16 Then Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing Israel, for Joab restrained the people. 17 And they took Absalom and threw him into [p]a deep pit in the forest, and erected over him a very large pile of stones. And all Israel fled, each to his own tent. 18 Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself a memorial stone, which is in the King’s Valley, for he said, “I have no son to [q]continue my name.” So he named the memorial stone after his own name, and it is called Absalom’s Monument to this day.
It’s interesting that we don’t know the name of the man who first saw Absalom stuck hanging from the tree. But we do know Joab, and we’ve seen his treachery before. He was not one to deal gently with one who had fought against his king, as we’ve seen with Abner.
So it was with Absalom, and no doubt the king knew Joab’s inclination, thus his instruction to them right before going out to battle. Alas, even the king’s instruction was not enough to save Absalom’s life.
How often do we follow our own inclination instead of the King’s instruction? It can be difficult to overcome our instinct and our human nature in this fallen world. But God calls us to be more like Him, not more like those in the world around us.
That is our ultimate duty, our primary goal in this life. Follow God’s will, seek Him first. “Lean not on our own understanding…” While we may not be perfect, we must strive to be more like Jesus every day, submitting to the Father’s will in everything we do.