So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people, for the people heard that day, “The king is grieving for his son.”
David's army had just won the battle that saved his throne, but the king's cry for his dead son swallowed up the whole day. Was that sorrow right, or did it wrong the men who had fought for him?
A victory that felt like a defeat
Instead of the noise of returning conquerors, the camp fell quiet:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinWhat grief David must have felt, that "the victory that day was turned into mourning"! The people went about on tiptoe, like people ashamed after a defeat. A great stillness covered everything, broken only by the loud, wailing voice of David: "O my son Absalom, O Absalom my son, my son!" All mourned with him. But what a man David must have been! He won his men's hearts so completely that his personal grief became theirs.
Why the king had no song
David's tears were not only a father's. The blood of Uriah was speaking again, and the win could bring him no joy:
J. G. BellettNo, David has no music at this time. Absalom had fallen, and the blood of Uriah was crying out from the ground again in David's ears. It was not fitting for him to celebrate and be glad… Victory was defeat, and life was death to David. His path is still the perfect path of the penitent; and so he now goes to his room rather than to his throne.
What the people read into his weeping
The people drew the worst conclusion from the king's cry: that winning had been a mistake. Commentators do not treat that instinct as entirely wrong:
Leslie M. GrantJoab hears of David's mourning for Absalom, and the people take it as a sign that perhaps it was wrong to win the battle. At the least it subdued their pride in winning. We all need to take to heart the exhortation of Proverbs 24:17, "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls." We may be rightly thankful that the Lord Jesus will subdue all His enemies. Yet we ought still to feel the sorrow of their having to be judged. In some measure this was no doubt good for the people, but David carried it too far.
Family feeling in the wrong place
David's failure here is a common one. A natural bond, good in itself, came before duty to God's people:
Truth & TestimonyNatural ties are very strong. In their proper place they are perfectly right before God. But when they interfere with the things of God, they become a hindrance and a source of trouble and sorrow. Scripture gives many examples of nature's claims opposing God's will. … David was more concerned about the death of his son Absalom than about the well-being of his own soldiers. He deserved the rebuke that Joab gave him (2 Sam. 19:1-6).
Joab's sharp words — and what they expose
Joab spoke to David as no servant should dare speak to a king. That alone tells us something about this reign:
William KellyThe very people who had won the victory for him could not help being upset. They read an implied reproof in the king's laments and tears. So Joab dares to say… "Now therefore arise, go out and speak kindly to your servants. For I swear by the LORD, if you do not go, not a man will stay with you this night." How clear it is that the king was not yet reigning in righteousness — otherwise Joab would never have dared speak like that. Every type falls short of the truth. … The only one worthy of all honour and praise, of all confidence and love, is the second Man, the last Adam.
Sorrow that must not steal another's joy
The remedy was not to stop grieving. It was to stop letting private grief govern a public day:
J. G. BellettHis sorrow had to be his own. The people had earned a victory and deserved their reward. The king's sorrow must not spoil their joy. So Joab calls David back to his people and to their claims on him. David is roused, and he goes out to take his place in the scene again.
From this low point the story turns, and the chastening bears fruit:
H. L. RossierThe discipline is now ended… God fills the broken heart as He alone can, and outwardly the life of Jesus is shown. We enter a scene of grace, forgiveness and peace, the expression of what now fills the king's heart.
Summary
- Sin — David's tears trace back to Uriah's blood; his own past made the day of triumph a day when he had no song.
- Sorrow — Grief over a lost enemy is not wrong in itself; the warning is against rejoicing when an enemy falls.
- Excess — David carried his mourning too far. A family tie outweighed the well-being of the men who saved him.
- Shortfall — That Joab could rebuke a king shows this reign was not yet righteous. Every picture of the coming King falls short of Christ Himself.
- Grace — When David went back out to his people, the discipline had done its work. A broken heart became a channel of grace, forgiveness and peace.