2 Samuel 18:19 - Meaning and Application

Absalom’s work is finished, and now we are told how David heard about it. He stayed behind in the city of Mahanaim, several miles from the forest where the battle was fought, on the far edge of the land. Absalom’s scattered men all headed back toward the Jordan River, the opposite direction from Mahanaim, so the watchmen could not tell how the battle was going. They had to wait until a messenger was sent to tell the king the result, and David sat at the gate, expecting to hear it (2 Samuel 18:24).

Joab chose Cushi to carry the news (2 Samuel 18:21). His name means “Ethiopian,” and some think he was an Ethiopian by birth, a dark-skinned man who served Joab. He was likely one of the ten men who helped finish off Absalom (2 Samuel 18:15), though it was dangerous for one of them to bring the news to David, since messengers who told David of Saul’s death and Ish-bosheth’s death met a bad end.

Ahimaaz, the young priest, one of the men who had brought David news about Absalom’s movements before (2 Samuel 17:17), was eager to be the messenger. He was so full of joy that this dark cloud had passed that he wanted to run and tell the king that the Lord had brought justice on his enemies (2 Samuel 18:19). He did not seem to want a reward so much as the joy of bringing good news to the king he loved. Joab understood David better than Ahimaaz did, and he knew that the news of Absalom’s death, which must finish the story, would ruin the welcome of everything else. He also cared too much for Ahimaaz to let him carry that part of the message (2 Samuel 18:20). That kind of news was better suited to a footman than to a priest.

Still, after Cushi left, Ahimaaz pressed hard for leave to run after him, and Joab finally allowed it (2 Samuel 18:22-23). It may seem strange that he wanted this task so badly when another man had already been sent. Perhaps he wanted to show how fast he was. He saw that Cushi ran slowly and took the longer road, and he wanted to prove that he could take the longer way and still beat him. That was no great honor for a priest, but Ahimaaz may have been proud of it. Or perhaps he acted from wisdom and care for the king. He knew he could arrive before Cushi, so he may have wanted to prepare David with a general report before the fuller truth came. If bad news must come, it is often easier to bear when it comes in stages.

Both runners were soon seen by the watchman at the gate of Mahanaim, Ahimaaz first (2 Samuel 18:24), even though Cushi had started first. Ahimaaz quickly outran him, and Cushi appeared afterward (2 Samuel 18:26). When the king heard of one man running alone, he concluded it must be a messenger, not a fleeing soldier, because if the army had been defeated there would have been many running together (2 Samuel 18:25). When he learned that the runner was Ahimaaz, he assumed the news would be good (2 Samuel 18:27). Ahimaaz seems to have been so well known for running that people could recognize him from a distance. He was also known as a good man, loyal to the king’s cause, so it was taken for granted that he would not bring bad news. It is a pity if the good news of the gospel is not also brought by good people, and messengers should be welcome to us for the sake of the message they carry.

Ahimaaz was quick to announce the victory (2 Samuel 18:28). He called out from a distance, “Peace! There is peace!” Peace after war is doubly sweet. He told David, “All is well, my lord the king. The danger is over, and we can go back to Jerusalem whenever you wish.” When he came closer, he gave more detail: “All those who raised their hands against the king have been overthrown.” As a priest, he also gave God the glory. He praised the God of peace and war, the God of salvation and victory: “Blessed be the Lord your God, who has done this for you.” He recognized that God had kept the promise made to uphold David’s throne (2 Samuel 7:16). When he said this, he bowed with his face to the ground, showing respect to the king and humble worship before God, whose name he praised for the victory.

By leading David to thank God for the victory, Ahimaaz was also preparing him for the sad news that would follow. The more our hearts are fixed on God in gratitude for our blessings, the better we are able to bear the sorrow mixed with them. David was such a father that he forgot he was a king. He could not rejoice in victory until he knew whether the young man Absalom was safe, for his heart trembled for him, much as Eli’s heart had once trembled in a different situation for the ark of God. Ahimaaz understood, or at least sensed from Joab’s hint, that the death of the king’s son would make the day’s news very hard to receive. So he left that matter unclear in his report. He gave David a reason to suspect what had happened, but he did not want the full blow to strike the king too suddenly, so he pointed him to the next messenger, who was already coming, for a fuller explanation. He was, in effect, saying that he had only delivered his own message, and that Cushi could explain the rest. He would not be the bearer of the worst news, and he would not claim to know what he could not fully explain. So David told him to stand aside until Cushi arrived (2 Samuel 18:30), and then Ahimaaz likely gave the king a more complete account of the victory, which was what he had come to report.

Cushi, the slower messenger, proved to be the one who gave the sure answer. He confirmed the victory, saying that the Lord had avenged David of all who rose against him (2 Samuel 18:31). He also answered David’s question about Absalom (2 Samuel 18:32). “Is the young man Absalom safe?” David asked. Cushi replied in a careful way that meant Absalom was safe only in death. He did not speak harshly or plainly say that Absalom had been hanged, pierced, and buried under stones. Instead, he said that Absalom’s fate was what David would wish for all traitors against the king’s crown and honor: “May the enemies of my lord the king, and all who rise against you to harm you, be like that young man.” In that way, he gave the king the truth without needless cruelty, and the messenger could not rightly be blamed for the pain of the news.

Then we come to how David received the report. He forgot all the joy of his rescue and was overwhelmed by the sorrow of Absalom’s death (2 Samuel 18:33).

As soon as David understood from Cushi’s answer that Absalom was dead, he asked no more questions. He broke into bitter tears, withdrew from everyone, and gave himself over to grief. As he went up to his room, people heard him cry, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! How I grieve for you! Would God I had died for you, and that you had stayed alive this day” the Chaldee version adds, “O Absalom, my son, my son!”

It would be good to think this sorrow came from concern about Absalom’s eternal condition, and that David wished he had died for him because he had hope of his own salvation and of Absalom’s repentance if he had lived. But it seems more likely that he spoke in a rash fit of grief, and this was one of his weaknesses. He was wrong to show such deep affection for a wicked son just because he was handsome and clever, while God and people had rightly rejected him.

He was also wrong to complain, not only against God’s providence, the wise ordering of events, which he should have quietly accepted, but against God’s justice, which he should have honored and agreed with. Bildad makes this point in (Job 8:3, Job 8:4): if your children have sinned against God and he has cast them away for their sin, you should submit, for does God twist justice? See also (Leviticus 10:3). David was also opposing the justice of the nation, which he, as king, was responsible to protect and administer. Public justice, along with the good of the whole people, should have come before his private affection.

He also failed to value the mercy of his own rescue, and the rescue of his family and kingdom from Absalom’s evil plans, as though this were no mercy at all because Absalom died for it. And he gave in to strong emotion, speaking without careful thought. In that moment, he forgot what he had reasoned before about the death of another child, “Can I bring him back again?” He also forgot his own resolve to keep silent when his heart was hot, and his earlier way of calming himself like a child weaned from its mother.

Even the best people are not always in the same good frame of mind. We tend to grieve most deeply for what we loved most dearly. So in every strong feeling, it is wise to keep control of our spirit and watch ourselves closely when something very dear is taken away. People in grief think they should be free to say whatever comes to mind, but few words are soon fixed or corrected. The humble and patient sufferer sits alone and keeps silent (Lamentations 3:28), or, like Job, says, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.”