Use the frame on the left to read these Scriptures.
Many are the plans in a man's heart,
but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.
-- Proverbs 19:21
Absalom had big plans. He was going to trap David in Mahanaim like a caged bird, pull down the city's walls, and kill his father so that he would be the undisputed king of Israel. God had different plans. He had determined to bring disaster on Absalom (2 Samuel 17:14).
POWERLESS TO SAVE ABSALOM. Although King David was fighting to save himself and his family from Absalom, he did not want to destroy his son. He instructed his army commanders to "be gentle with the young man Absalom." However, David's wishes were unable to save Absalom. The army of Israel had answered Absalom call to arms, but Israel's army could not save Absalom. One of David's soldiers who had heard David's instructions to the commanders refused to kill Absalom, but even that did not save him. God's purpose would prevail.
DEADLY PROVIDENCE. Absalom's army never attacked Mahanaim because David's army attacked his forces in the Forest of Ephraim where the forest happened to consume more of Absalom's army than the sword. Absalom fled, but he happened to meet some of David's men. He tried to escape from them on his mule, but as he rode through the trees, his head happened to get caught in the branches. The mule did not stop, and Absalom was left hanging from the tree like one cursed of God (Deuteronomy 21:23). Unarmed and defenseless, he died like a criminal rather than a soldier. What happened was not mere coincidence; it was determined by God.
ABSALOM'S MEMORIAL. David's soldiers took Absalom's body down from the tree, threw it into a pit, and covered it with stones. The heap of stones over Absalom's body was a more fitting memorial for a rebellious son (Deuteronomy 21:18-21) than the pillar Absalom had erected for himself earlier in the King's Valley near Jerusalem.
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