2 Samuel 15:21
And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the LORD liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be. And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the LORD liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be.
David, humbled and sorrowful, goes out of the gate of Jerusalem as a dethroned, grieving fugitive, driven from his throne and palace and the ark of God by the insurrection of his son Absalom. The people follow like a funeral train toward the brook Kidron and the wilderness, while he flees Jerusalem under urgent threat. With him are the Cherethites and Pelethites, and six hundred Gittites who accompany the king. Their commander is Ittai the Gittite from Gath, a stranger and an exile who arrived only recently, only yesterday.
With unselfishness David urges Ittai not to share his calamity but to return and abide behind, to remain rather than go on with him. In answer Ittai vows by the life of the Lord and the life of the king that in whatever place his lord the king shall be, whether for living or for dying, there his servant will also be. His words express steadfast allegiance amid danger, a pledge to remain wherever David goes, whether in life or in death.
That answer proves that he and his men have been converted from paganism to the worship of Jehovah. It proves their fidelity to their God and to their king by devotion to a cause that appears to be sinking. David with a grateful heart accepts this devotion and allows Ittai to remain with him.