2 Samuel 15 in the early church

Some time later, Absalom provided for himself a chariot with horses and fifty men to run ahead of him.

He would get up early and stand beside the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone had a grievance to bring before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out and ask, “What city are you from?” And if he replied, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,”

Absalom would say, “Look, your claims are good and right, but the king has no deputy to hear you.”

And he would add, “If only someone would appoint me judge in the land, then everyone with a grievance or dispute could come to me, and I would give him justice.”

Also, when anyone approached to bow down to him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him, and kiss him.

Absalom did this to all the Israelites who came to the king for justice. In this way he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

Then Absalom sent spies throughout the tribes of Israel with this message: “When you hear the sound of the horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom reigns in Hebron!’”

Two hundred men from Jerusalem accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and they went along innocently, for they knew nothing about the matter.

While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come from his hometown of Giloh. So the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept increasing.

Then a messenger came to David and reported, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.”

And David said to all the servants with him in Jerusalem, “Arise and let us flee, or we will not escape from Absalom! We must leave quickly, or he will soon overtake us, heap disaster on us, and put the city to the sword.”

Then the king said to Zadok, “Return the ark of God to 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 dwelling place again.

But if He should say, ‘I do not delight in you,’ then here I am; let Him do to me whatever seems good to Him.”

But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.

Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David pleaded, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”

When David came to the summit, where he used to worship God, Hushai the Archite was there to meet him with his robe torn and dust on his head.

But you can thwart the counsel of Ahithophel for me if you return to the city and say to Absalom: ‘I will be your servant, my king; in the past I was your father’s servant, but now I will be your servant.’