Zadok and the Levites

When David fled Jerusalem, the priests Zadok and Abiathar planned to accompany him and bring with them the ark of the covenant.

The priests met the procession clad in holy robes, with Levites shouldering the ark. David’s followers believed the arrival of the ark was a good sign.

With the ark accompanying them, ultimate victory was assured.

Surely Absalom’s followers would lament the loss of such a sacred item.

The arrival of the ark was therefore greeted with great joy and thanksgiving.

“Not personal interests, but the glory of God and the good of his people, were to be uppermost in the mind of Israel’s king. God, who dwelt between the cherubim, had said of Jerusalem, ‘This is My rest’ (Psalm 132:14); and without divine authority neither priest nor king had a right to remove therefrom the symbol of His presence. And David knew that his heart and life must be in harmony with the divine precepts, else the ark would be the means of disaster rather than of success. His great sin was ever before him. He recognized in this conspiracy the just judgment of God. The sword that was not to depart from his house had been unsheathed. He knew not what the result of the struggle might be. It was not for him to remove from the capital of the nation the sacred statutes which embodied the will of their divine Sovereign, which were the constitution of the realm and the foundation of its prosperity.” “And the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favour in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again, and shew me both it, and his habitation” (2 Samuel 15:25).

David placed his future in the hands of the Lord.

He was content to let God determine the outcome of this battle.

Knowing the priests were positioned to know everything going on in Jerusalem, David sought to keep them in place as his eyes and ears in the capital.

Ahimaaz, son of Zadok, and Jonathan, son of Abiathar, would serve as messengers, carrying vital information from the priests to David.

“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD” (Psalm 27:14).