2 Samuel 15:24
And lo Zadok also, and all the Levites were with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God: and they set down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people had done passing out of the city. And lo Zadok also, and all the Levites were with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God: and they set down the ark of God; and Abiathar went up, until all the people had done passing out of the city.
Zadok and Abiathar with the Levites interrupt David's flight by bringing the ark of God, which is the symbol of God's presence and the glory and strength of Israel, so that to remove it would take the glory from Israel. For a moment David sees hope in its arrival, thinking that keeping this precious token could improve his situation by letting him rally all Israel around him and win back the disaffected. Yet he then nobly and unselfishly refuses to use it as a charm to preserve his kingly honor, life, power, and sinking fortunes. Out of reverence and respect for the ark he will not imperil it in the vicissitudes of his hasty flight.
He holds that kings and priests have no right to remove it from its place of rest without a divine command, and that the city must not be robbed of the symbol that gives it the name Mount of Holiness. He therefore commands it to be carried back into the city to the tabernacle of Zion, and will make no advancement until the priests have returned it with its hallowed burden to its place. He refuses it because he views his humiliation not as merely man's device but as from the Lord, submitting that if he finds favor in the eyes of the Lord He will bring him back to see the ark and His habitation, but if He has no delight in him, let Him do to him as seems good to Him.