The Way
Barefoot up the Mount of Olives
A road climbed barefoot in tears, steps still entrusted to the Lord
Story
A messenger rushed into the palace, gasping for breath: “The hearts of Israel have gone over to Absalom.” Absalom, David's own son, had rebelled against his father. David said to his officials, “Get up, we must flee. If we don't hurry, Absalom will put this city to the sword.” The king left the city with his whole household. When the king told Ittai, a commander who had come from Gath of the Philistines, to go back, Ittai answered, “Whether for death or for life, wherever the king is, there I will be.”
The whole land wept aloud. The king crossed the Kidron brook and walked toward the wilderness. The priest Zadok and the Levites followed, carrying the ark of the covenant of God. David said to Zadok, “Carry the ark back into the city. If I find favor in the Lord's eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it again. But if he takes no pleasure in me, here I am; let him do with me as seems good to him.”
David climbed the slope of the Mount of Olives weeping, his head covered and his feet bare. All the people with him covered their heads and wept as well. Then bad news came: even Ahithophel, the king's wise counselor, had sided with Absalom. David prayed, “Lord, turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness.” When he reached the summit where God was worshiped, his friend Hushai came to meet the king, his robe torn and dust on his head. Hushai was the answer God sent to that prayer.
Walk this scene on the map →Words of God and David
If I find favor with the Lord, he will bring me back and let me see the ark and the place where he dwells. But if he takes no pleasure in me, here I am; let him do with me as seems good to him.
Lord, turn Ahithophel's counsel into foolishness.
As surely as the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever the king may be, whether for death or for life, there I will be too.
The sayings are fresh renderings of the original meaning in today's language. Text: 2 Sam 15:13–37
Background
The Kidron brook runs through the valley between the eastern wall of Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, and it flows only in the rainy season. About a thousand years later, on the night he was arrested, Jesus too crossed this brook to a garden on the slopes of the Mount of Olives.
Pause and Reflect
When I must let go of what I've been holding on to, can I trust God?