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Sons Of The Flaming Throne – Ch.46 | KT OLLA

BEFORE the first light the next morning, David rose up to a task. The king didn’t sleep through the night; and so the morning only brought him up from his seat of thought.

The old monarch had made a resolve the night before and it wasn’t one that could earn him a good calm. He had decided to protect the people on his side and fight his chaser, his own son.

He was the one with an advantage then. And he wanted to strike the first shot, and win.

The great monarch stood up. He gathered his many soldiers, and he divided them into units of hundreds and a few thousands.

Then he grouped all of them into three contingents, placing Joab and his brother Abishai as head of two of them. And then he placed Ittai to lead the third group.

But David wasn’t going to send his men out there without going along. The old monarch’s heart was one which thumped at the sound of war.

Still this fight wasn’t the kind that got the king excited. He simply wanted to see his son. He wanted to see Absalom and talk him out of everything.

But the king knew that was an impossible wish. An impossible desire he dared not voice.

Yet those men knew it. They knew why the father was on the run from his son all the while. They knew the king never wanted to fight or kill his boy.

Yes, King David would make a different choice if there were any. And the men knew he wouldn’t fight his own son if he could help it.

Now they were ready to do all they could to save the father from being involved in killing the prince. So everyone stopped him; and the monarch freely agreed. He agreed to stay behind.

Then as the army marched back to Jordan from Mahanaim, David stood by the small gates of the town and watched his soldiers march out.

His heart weighed heavy like a millstone round the neck. He knew what the departure of those fighters meant…

So he desperately hoped this wasn’t happening. He wished he could stop everything.

But then it seemed many things had been decided. So he wished his son had chosen the good path.

Even so, with the last strand of hope left in David, he called out to the three men leading his army. Then he gave his last order.

It was a plea of a desperate father.

He sighed: ‘For my sake, be gentle with the young man Absalom! Do not harm him in any way. For my own sake, please!’

Thus, the valiant warriors of David’s horde marched out before their king to crush the foe.

And David sat by the city gate, and waited for news.

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