31 And, behold, the Cushite came; and the Cushite said, Tidings for my lord the king; for Jehovah hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee.
Vengeance is mine, and recompense, At the time when their foot shall slide: For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things that are to come upon them shall make haste. For Jehovah will judge his people, And repent himself for his servants; When he seeth that `their' power is gone, And there is none `remaining', shut up or left at large.
Even the God that executeth vengeance for me, And that bringeth down peoples under me, And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: Yea, thou liftest me up above them that rise up against me; Thou deliverest me from the violent man.
O Jehovah, thou God to whom vengeance belongeth, Thou God to whom vengeance belongeth, shine forth. Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: Render to the proud `their' desert. Jehovah, how long shall the wicked, How long shall the wicked triumph? They prate, they speak arrogantly: All the workers of iniquity boast themselves.
If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side, When men rose up against us; Then they had swallowed us up alive, When their wrath was kindled against us;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Samuel 18
Commentary on 2 Samuel 18 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 18
This chapter puts a period to Absalom's rebellion and life, and so makes way for David to his throne again, whither the next chapter brings him back in peace and triumph. We have here,
2Sa 18:1-8
Which way David raised an army here, and what reinforcements were sent him, we are not told; many, it is likely, from all the coasts of Israel, at least from the neighbouring tribes, came in to his assistance, so that, by degrees, he was able to make head against Absalom, as Ahithophel foresaw. Now here we have,
Bishop Hall thus descants on this: "What means this ill-placed love? This unjust mercy? Deal gently with a traitor? Of all traitors, with a son? Of all sons, with an Absalom? That graceless darling of so good a father? And all this, for thy sake, whose crown, whose blood, he hunts after? For whose sake must he be pursued, if forborne for thine? Must the cause of the quarrel be the motive of mercy? Even in the holiest parents, nature may be guilty of an injurious tenderness, of a bloody indulgence. But was not this done in type of that immeasurable mercy of the true King and Redeemer of Israel, who prayed for his persecutors, for his murderers, Father, forgive them? Deal gently with them for my sake.' When God sends an affliction to correct his children, it is with this charge, "Deal gently with them for my sake;' for he knows our frame.
2Sa 18:9-18
Here is Absalom quite at a loss, at his wit's end first, and then at his life's end. He that began the fight, big with the expectation of triumphing over David himself, with whom, if he had had him in his power, he would not have dealt gently, is now in the greatest consternation, when he meets the servants of David, v. 9. Though they were forbidden to meddle with him, he durst not look them in the face; but, finding they were near him, he clapped spurs to his mule and made the best of his way, through thick and thin, and so rode headlong upon his own destruction. Thus he that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit, and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare, Jer. 48:44. David is inclined to spare him, but divine justice passes sentence upon him as a traitor, and sees it executed-that he hang by the neck, be caught alive, be embowelled, and his body disposed of disgracefully.
2Sa 18:19-33
Absalom's business is done; and we are now told,