Unspoken (17 page)

Women and servants scrambled around the palace, gathering what they would need for a journey. David had given orders that his household was to leave Jerusalem before Absalom could arrive with his army. Only ten concubines would stay behind and keep the palace in order.

Bathsheba kept her sons close by her side as David led them out with all his people after him. As they stopped on the outskirts of the city, six hundred men joined forces with them, foreigners who had come to see the king. David told them they should leave, that this wasn’t their battle. Bathsheba was relieved when they swore allegiance to him and remained. David would need all the men he could muster if they were to survive.

Men and women were weeping and wailing as they crossed the stream of Kidron, heading out toward the wilderness. Zadok, the high priest, and all the Levites followed David with the Ark of God, but when David heard about it, he told them to go back to Jerusalem.

“If the Lord sees fit, He will bring me back to see the Ark and the Tabernacle again. But if He is through with me, then let Him do what seems best to Him.” He walked barefoot and wept, keeping his head covered as he grieved over his rebellious son.

As David led his people up the Mount of Olives, a messenger came, dusty and exhausted. “Ahithophel is among the conspirators!”

Bathsheba dropped to her knees and cried out. She covered her head with dust. She wept, remembering her grandfather, the man she’d loved as a child and a young woman—his laughter, his love, his tender devotion to his family. Ahithophel was at last taking his vengeance against her and David. She felt David’s eyes upon her and put her head against her thighs, ashamed of what her love for him had caused.

She put her hands over her head when she heard David cry out in anguish and wrath. “O Lord, let Ahithophel give Absalom foolish advice!”

Counselors and advisers surrounded David, all speaking at once, drawing him away from her. Bathsheba felt strong arms lift her and heard Solomon’s fierce whisper. “God will protect us.”

“My fault,” she choked. “This is all my fault.”

He embraced her, protecting her from those who stared. “Should the sins of everyone be laid at your feet?”

She shook with grief. “The avalanche started years ago, my son, and the whole mountain is coming down on us this time!”

“Each man makes his own decision, Mother. Ahithophel’s sin will rest upon his own head.”

She shook her head. “He’s your great-grandfather.”

“He requested leave and went home to Giloh years ago, using the excuse that Israel was at peace. Now we know the real reason for his departure. Treachery!” Solomon drew back while still giving her support. “If there’s anything I’ve learned from all this, Mother, it’s not to trust anyone, even someone of your own blood.”

“You can trust me. You can trust your father.”

“I love you, Mother, and I trust you, but what power have you? And I love my father, but the king lost touch with his people years ago.”

Bathsheba didn’t reprimand her son for his words because he said them with sorrow and not condemnation. She thought of her grandfather again, and her heart quaked. All these years he had pretended to be at peace with David while seeking an opportunity to destroy him.

Oh, if only I’d been stronger and wiser . . .

She stopped the thought.
If only . . . if only . . .
What was the use in such thinking? It was too late to wish she’d done things differently. They were all stained with sin, and sacrifices merely covered it with another’s blood.

Oh, God of mercy, how I long to be free of my sins, to be an innocent child again, as white as snow.

Had Ahithophel thought through his vengeance? Could he hate her and David so much that he would destroy himself to get even? If he succeeded in setting Absalom on the throne, David would die. She would die. And the lives of Ahithophel’s four great-grandsons would be forfeit as well! Angry and desperate, she prayed with every step that her husband’s prayer would be answered and God would confuse her grandfather’s advice to Absalom. For without God’s favor, all would be lost. Ahithophel knew more about waging a successful war than any man in the kingdom, including Joab, who now marched with David, protecting him against the son with whom he had once schemed. Joab with his murderous pride. Joab with his hidden motives and deadly ambition! He’d pulled David in a dozen directions over the past three decades!

She looked up at Solomon. “You and your brothers must go and stand with your father.”

“We are standing with him.”

“No. Stay
close
to him. Protect him from Absalom and anyone else who might harm him. If the king falls, we all fall.” Tears blinded her. “Show David he has sons he can trust!”

As she walked alone among the throng leaving Jerusalem with David, she remembered conversations from years past around her father’s campfire at En-gedi.
“Kill Saul,”
Abishai had once said
. “Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter,”
Joab had advised. David had left the fire, refusing to listen, and her grandfather had discussed the matter with her father after the others followed.
“Joab’s advice is shrewd. Saul’s death would put an end to this war and place David on the throne. But there would be no blessing for David if he kills the Lord’s anointed.”

No blessing.

The last thing her grandfather would want now was blessing on the house of David. And what better way to avenge his so-called honor than by setting son against father? Ahithophel would destroy a nation because of his pride. Were all men so evil-bent, so lacking in the ability to forgive? What right had man to judge what God redeemed? Her mother had warned her years ago that her grandfather would never let the matter go. She had hoped and prayed that he would take a different course. She wept now as she saw that Ahithophel had only pretended to forgive. She knew he would advise Absalom to pursue and kill David. And if successful, Absalom’s kingdom would be cursed as well, for what nation could prosper through a son’s shedding his own father’s blood? The house of David would fall.

Oh, Lord, Lord, that one night of sin could bring such sorrow!

No matter what happened, someone she loved was going to die.

Let it be Ahithophel, Lord.
She wept at uttering such a prayer.
Let it be my grandfather and not my husband and sons.

As David led his people to Bahurim, a man named Shimei from the family of Saul came out and shouted curses at him. The man kept pace, picked up stones, and hurled them, along with his bitter words, at David and his servants. “Get out of here, you murderer!” he screamed in rage. “You scoundrel! The Lord is paying you back for murdering Saul and his family. You stole his throne, and now the Lord has given it to your son Absalom. At last you will taste some of your own medicine, you murderer!”

Abishai drew his sword. “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head!”

David cried out in anger and despair. “No! What am I going to do with you sons of Zeruiah! If the Lord has told him to curse me, who am I to stop him?” He wept and shouted, “My own son is trying to kill me. Shouldn’t this relative of Saul have even more reason to do so? Leave him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to do it. And perhaps the Lord will see that I am being wronged and will bless me because of these curses.”

David continued along the road, wincing at every word Shimei laid upon his head. He felt stones strike him. He tasted the dust the Benjaminite kicked up.

When the people grew too weary to go farther, he gave orders to camp. He’d done all he could. He had sent another of his military advisers, Hushai, to pretend allegiance to Absalom. He instructed Hushai to counter whatever counsel Ahithophel gave. David had also sent Zadok the priest and his sons back into Jerusalem to act as messengers for Hushai. If there was any hope for escape, Hushai would see that David got word. Everything rested in God’s hands. The outcome would be according to God’s will.

I will die if my son pursues me now, Lord. I’m too tired to go on, and my people need rest. Help me. Oh, God, help me!

He took off his crown and held it in his hands. “Oh, Lord, hear me as I pray,” he whispered. “Don’t hide Yourself from my plea. Please answer my prayers. Trouble is all around me because of a grudge held against me for sins I committed long ago. My heart is anguished.” Closing his eyes, he gripped the crown tightly. “God, I’m terrified of death. Mine and all those I love. I’m shaking like a boy untried by battle. I wish I had wings like a dove so I could escape.” He swallowed. “Confuse Ahithophel’s tongue. All these years I thought he was my friend, and he’s been plotting against me.” He wept as he raked one hand back through his hair, dangling the crown in his other hand. “Ahithophel. My friend. My companion all these years. We had sweet fellowship together during those years in the wilderness.”

He ground his teeth, running his hand around the back of his neck. “All these years his words have been as smooth as butter, and war has been in his heart. He talked of peace with a drawn sword behind his back. He has fanned my son’s ambitions and set him against me.” He shook as rage heated his blood. “Send them into the pit of destruction, Lord! Let him go down alive into Sheol!”

David let out his breath slowly, striving for control of his emotions. He must be calm to give the people courage. He must think. He must act wisely.
What a fool I’ve been, allowing myself to become soft and letting others run the kingdom!
He turned the crown slowly in his hands and placed it back on his head, then rubbed his face, feeling the dust and grit of travel rubbing his skin.
Oh, God, I never asked to be king.
He would have been happier as a shepherd, singing psalms and looking at the stars in the heavens. He would have been happier as a poor man with only one wife.

Men plan, but God prevails.

With a sigh, David stood. “I will trust in You, oh, Lord. I will trust in You. Do with me as You will.”

Hushai reported to Zadok, and the priest sent his two sons to David. “Quick! Cross the Jordan tonight! Ahithophel is advising Absalom to pursue immediately, overtake you, and kill you. Hushai advises you not to spend the night in the plains of the wilderness, but to speedily cross over lest you and all the people with you be swallowed up!”

And there was more news, bitter and reminiscent of Nathan’s prophecy so many years before. “Acting on Ahithophel’s advice, Absalom has taken your ten concubines up onto the roof. He is sleeping with them before all Israel.”

David felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. He could imagine Ahithophel’s face ravaged by hatred, could imagine his thoughts:
Remember all those years ago when you stood upon your roof and looked down upon my granddaughter? Remember how you took her and defiled her? How you brought shame upon my household? Now I will watch your son defile your women and bring shame upon your household before all Israel!

David roused the people and they traveled on to Mahanaim, where they were met by men from Rabbah and Ammon and offered beds, basins, and earthen vessels filled with wheat, barley, flour, parched grain and seeds, beans, lentils, honey and curds, sheep, and cheese from the herd. David’s people ate their fill and rested.

David counted his men. He set up captains over thousands and captains over hundreds. Dividing his army into three parts, he sent one-third of his fighting force with Joab, one-third with Abishai, and one-third with Ittai the Gittite. Then, with a heavy heart, he prepared to go out to war against his own son.