2 Samuel 15:23
And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness. And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.
The verse belongs to David's flight from Jerusalem in Absalom's rebellion, when he and the people crossed the brook Kidron toward the way of the wilderness. He went out in humility and sorrow as a dethroned and crownless king, driven from his throne, his palace, and the ark of God by the insurrection of his cherished son Absalom. The country and all the people wept with a loud voice as they went, following in a long, sad procession like a funeral train.
The procession included his bodyguard of Cherethites and Pelethites and six hundred Gittites from Gath under Ittai. With characteristic unselfishness David showed surprise at their readiness to sacrifice for him and urged these strangers who had sought his protection not to become involved in his calamity but to return. Ittai vowed by the Lord and by the king to be where the king was whether in death or life. His vow proved the fidelity to God and king of men converted from paganism to the worship of Jehovah, and David with a grateful heart accepted their devotion to his apparently sinking cause.