David is the Lord’s anointed. Even when David knew it was God’s will for him to be king one day, he refused to put out his hand and touch Saul. Because Saul was still the Lord’s anointed. But Absalom has no such qualms. And now David has to leave the city of David. He’s a fugitive once again. He knows […]

The final string to Absalom’s bow in v5 is to pretend to be a man of the people. Whenever someone comes near to him to pay homage, to bow down before him perhaps, Absalom instead reaches out and hugs and kisses him. He doesn’t have any airs or graces. It’s easy for Absalom to do. He doesn’t have any other […]

The next thing Absalom does in verses 2-6 is to try and win the hearts and minds of the people. In v2 he makes sure he’s standing at the gate when anyone comes to the king to ask him to rule on a dispute. Absalom pretends to show an interest in them by asking where they’re from. Then he says: […]