So David set Captains over thousands and Captains over hundreds of the people that followed him; Abishai, Joab and Ittai all had a third of the people under them. Then he said, "I am going with you."
But the people all in one accord said, "No. You don't need to go with us. You may be killed and you are worth ten thousand of us." So David submitted his stand.
As they left to go meet Absalom, David told Joab, "Be gentle with the young man." Everyone heard him.
When they went to battle, finally, it was in the woods of Ephraim. There were more people killed by the trees and thickets than by the sword of other men. Over 20,000 men were slaughtered that day.
Absalom was riding on a mule under a wild Oak tree and his hair got caught in one of the branches and the mule kept running, hanging Absalom by the hair from the tree.
A man ran and told David what he saw. Joab said, "How come you didn't kill him? I would have given you a good reward had you done so. The man then replied, "I don't care how much you would have given me, there is no way I would hurt the king's son. We all heard him tell you to be gentle with him."
Joab said, "Well, I may not be alive too long," and took three darts and killed Absalom.
The battle stopped. They buried Absalom. Then Ahimaaz said, "I guess I should go tell David."
Joab said, "No. No one tells the King anything today. Let's let him lie here a day." Then he told Cushi, "Go run tell the king what you saw."
Ahimaaz begged to go with Cushi. Joab let him go with Cushi. But Ahimaaz ran so fast, he got ahead of Cushi.
While David waited, a watchman saw Ahimaaz and said, "There is a man running alone...wait, there is another one farther behind him. The first one looks like Ahimaaz!
"Good," said David. "That must be good news."
When Ahimaaz got there, he bowed himself to David, then said, "All is well. Blessed is God for saving the king from his enemy!"
"Is Absalom safe?" David asked.
"I don't know. I saw a commotion when I left, but I don't know what it was."
When Cushi got there, David asked, "Is Absalom safe?"
Cushi said, "May all your enemies be as that young man is."
David mourned, saying, "Oh my son Absalom. If only I could have died in your place!"
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God always takes care of problems, sometimes in ways that we don't expect or would not want to see. In the end it is always in our best interest
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