David now has quite a considerable army gathered to help him and he divides them into three sections under Joab, Abishai and Ittai (v1-2). These men are very loyal and don’t want David put in any danger (v3-4).

Despite what has happened David still wants his son Absalom, who has been so treacherous to him, to be dealt with gently (v5). Such love and grace!

David’s men are victorious and the soldiers of Israel loyal to Absalom lose 20,000 that day (v6-8). Here we see such terrible consequences for Absalom’s proud and selfish ambition.

Absalom gets his thick hair caught in a tree and although they could have taken him alive, Joab has him killed (v9-15). Absalom’s body is buried and a trumpet blasts sound the end of the battle (v16-18).

A Cushite and Ahimaaz bring the message of what has happened to David (v19-32) who is then overcome with grief for Absalom (v33). The grief reveals once more the depth of David’s love, but maybe that love needed to have acted earlier when there had been an opportunity to influence Absalom.