2 Sa. 15: Everyone's Fallen Down

2 Samuel 15:15 "Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, 'Come! We must flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately, or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin upon us and put the city to the sword.'"

Well, I think the most stunning aspect to me about chapter 14 is David's seemingly sudden fear of Absalom. Here was this fearless warrior, and now, through events he wasn't even a part of, Absalom had been banished, and now returned, and then not allowed to meet the king. Why? Why was David so afraid to the point where he just kind of gave up and thought Absalom was in power? In some ways, Absalom was doing things on his own power what David had done through the power of God. Did this creep into David's consciousness? That perhaps God was now using Absalom? David even calls Absalom king in verse 19. This is quite the turn of events.

Absalom was quite the PR man, handsome, and persuasive...pretty smart, to convince travelers that he should be the judge in order to get justice. Perhaps this influence got back to David, and began to get to him, making him think Absalom had the heart of the people. But what of David's relationship with God? Had that deteriorated?

David perhaps was unable to defeat Absalom militarily or socially, so he prayed that his advisor Ahithophel would give Absalom foolish counsel.