2 Samuel 15:24

DAVID SENT THE ARK BACK TO JERUSALEM

"Abiathar came up, and lo, Zadok came also, with all the Levites, bearing the ark of the covenant of God; and they set down the ark of God, until the people had all passed out of the city. Then the king said to Zadok, "Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me back and let me see both it and his habitation; but if he says, `I have no pleasure in you,' behold, here I am; let him do to me what seems good to him." The king also said to Zadok the priest, "Look, go back to the city in peace, you and Abiathar with your two sons, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. See, I will wait at the fords of the wilderness, until word comes from you to inform me." So Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem; and they remained there."

David appears here as the giant of faith which he was. How he had grown spiritually! He relied upon the power and lovingkindness of God as totally distinct from such a talisman as the ark of the covenant, important as that ark was. Furthermore, David courageously faced the truth that it might indeed be God's will to punish him with death for the terrible sins which had marred his life; but David would willingly submit to that, if it should be God's will. "Let him do to me what seems good to him." His whole attitude here was one of submission to God; he would fearlessly trust the outcome of Absalom's rebellion to the Lord. Let God's will be done.

"I will wait at the fords ... until word comes from you to inform me" (2 Samuel 15:28). There was also an excellent practical reason why David sent the ark and its priestly and Levitical attendants back to Jerusalem. David would require accurate and confidential information on Absalom's movements and other developments of the rebellion; and he promptly arranged to procure such information via the sons of the two priests mentioned here.

"May the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you" (2 Samuel 15:20). This is an unwelcome change from the text as given in ASV; KJV and NIV; and Willis noted, "The last line of 2 Samuel 15:20 should read, `Mercy and truth be with thee,' as in KJV, ASV, and NIV."[21]

"And Abiathar came up, and lo, Zadok came also, with all the Levites bearing the ark of the covenant of God" (2 Samuel 15:24). We are pleased indeed that the RSV has retained these words, thus effectively checkmating the old critical dictum advanced in the last century to the effect that, "The Levites are unknown to the Books of Samuel, so obviously (this mention of Levites) is a late insertion."[22] Such opinions, of course, are unacceptable. The Levites are mentioned in both Samuels, here and in 1 Samuel 6:15. Parallel accounts also which are found in Kings and Chronicles indicate most emphatically that the Levites during the reign of David fulfilled their usual purpose regarding the ark of the covenant; and there is no good reason for supposing that they were not involved here.