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Sons Of The Flaming Throne – Ch. 26 | KT OLLA

NOW David and his party passed the last house in the city as they finally reached the border.

They reached the Brook of Kidron bordering Jerusalem; so, they made to cross over.

King David halted in his steps. He wasn’t riding a regal horse today; for he was so low in spirit to sit on a high horse.

He stopped to examine all that he was by then. All that he was left with.

So, he allowed everyone to pass in front of him, watching each and every one of his men in sheer gratefulness that he wasn’t alone in that trial.

It was the royal bodyguards who went first. The six hundred soldiers who followed him from Gath, when he was a fugitive and hiding from Saul the former king.

Those valiant men went before their king now, and crossed the brook.

Then as the soldiers passed before David, the man began to worry about their safety. He feared for their lives and that of everyone.

These gentlemen has done enough for David! No, they’ve definitely done more than enough!

Or aren’t they the same men who risked their lives to follow me when I was fleeing from a jealous king.

Didn’t they flee with David? And sleep in the cold and the caves? Or aren’t they called foreigners, and not offspring of Israel as we are?

No, these good men needn’t do more for me. They’ve definitely done enough!

And so, David pulled their leader aside and spoke the words to him. The name of that man was Ittai.

‘Look, Ittai!’ he called. ‘You people cannot go with us. You are foreigners, not Israelites. So you need not get involved in an internal strife as this.

‘You see, this is David’s fight from beginning to end!’

He looked in the man’s eyes and saw that he wasn’t convinced. So he pressed on the matter more.

‘Look, as a king as the Lord has made us, we still don’t know what will be tomorrow. Nor do we know to where we can run.

‘To be candid, David has got no place to go after here. So why should I put your life and those of your men in jeopardy?

‘Now, please go to the new king along with the men, and serve him. I am relieving both you and them of your oath to me. I do not want any man’s blood on my neck.’

David spoke these words to Ittai. But no, the words only reminded the latter of the old times, when his company joined themselves to the king and served him.

So, he hit back an objection right then.

‘No, Your Majesty. We have nowhere else away from your side. We simply have you and no one else!’

David heaved a heavy sigh. And it was relief for the most part.

Ittai kept shooting nonetheless.

‘That’s how things have always been, my lord! We didn’t see wealth or glory when we joined forces with you in Gath. We didn’t see power or dominion.

‘But what I and the others saw was a man on whose side the God of all gods fight. We saw a dominant king, who didn’t need a crown to be one!

‘Therefore, my lord and king, we have pledged our loyalty to you. To no other man but you!’

With that, Ittai bowed to the ground before David; and the latter was too overwhelmed to say a word.

Yes, David had seen the height of betrayal he’d never witnessed since he was king. He’d seen the worst kind of treason. Particularly for the fact that it came from his own loins.

He’d known the heat of a fire in one’s bosom, the fire that burns under one’s robe. But that day he was seeing the first light of a smiling sky, as the rays shattered the dark clouds.

That sombre morning, he was seeing the smile of an angel called Mercy. And he almost broke down in tears.

Then as the people crossed the Brook of Kidron, many dwellers of that place flocked out of their homes to watch David leave.

So, as the king’s people passed before him over the stream, the citizens there raised their voices in a loud cry. And they wept so bad that David cried.

That day, David was deeply moved as he watched the place tremble with the tears of grown-up folks.

He was so moved that he broke down himself.

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