Threatening The King

‭2 Samuel 19:7-8 KJV‬ [7] Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy servants: for I swear by the LORD, if thou go not forth, there will not tarry one with thee this night: and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that befell thee from thy youth until now. [8] Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent.

King David was a human being. He felt all the outbursts of emotions that anyone could feel. Mathew Henry feels the insult of Commander Joab. ” Joab censures David, but not with proper respect and deference to his sovereign. A plain case may be fairly pleaded with those above us, and they may be reproved for what they do amiss, but it must not be with rudeness and insolence. Yet David took the reproof and the counsel, prudently and mildly. Timely giving way, usually prevents the ill effects of mistaken measures ”. Jamieson, Faussett and Brown follow that up with Davids feelings from then on, ” The king felt the truth of Joab’s reprimand; but the threat by which it was enforced, grounded as it was on the general’s unbounded popularity with the army, showed him to be a dangerous person; and that circumstance, together with the violation of an express order to deal gently for his sake with Absalom, produced in David’s mind a settled hatred, which was strongly manifested in his last directions to Solomon”. Your leaders may not appear to react if you make a public show of them. It will cost you. Joab found that out late. Its no boldness. Entreat your leaders even when they are vulnerable.