David Looks Back on His Own Sin

Driven out by his son, David leaves the palace. Absalom had come home after three years with his mother’s family, yet for more than two years he could not see his father, and that hurt grew into rebellion. Ahithophel took revenge for the grudge he had held over the matter of his granddaughter Bathsheba, and David, sending the ark of the covenant back to the palace, flees with nothing.

Absalom’s rebellion began when he stole the hearts of the people with lies about David. As it turned out, the one who stood by David was a foreigner like Ittai, while those who brought him down were his own son and a servant who bore a grudge. David did not cling to the ark because he knew that, even with the ark, he could not return to the palace unless his sin was settled before God.

Knowing that this suffering had come from his own sin, David blamed no one. Rather than finding fault with others, he examined himself, and there he came to see that God is his refuge. Once humility and obedience were restored in him, he returned to the throne.