2 Samuel 15:25, commentary and pictures

David was in flight from Jerusalem after forfeiting God's favor by his own course of action, humbled and mournful with his guilt and Nathan's solemn condemnation still ringing in his ears. His expulsion from the throne and his humiliation were not the work of man, human passion, caprice, or merely man's device, but were from the Lord bringing the sure result of his sin. The ark was the symbol of God's presence and of Israel's strength and glory, with its rest in the tabernacle of Zion, the Mount of Holiness, and its dwelling place.

Worldly wisdom would have kept the ark in flight to use it for advantage as a charm and pledge of victory, to rally Israel, win back the disaffected, and secure his own honor, life, and sinking fortunes. But reverence and a high sense of right and sacred things would not allow kings or priests to remove it from Jerusalem without God's authority and divine command or to imperil it by his vicissitudes. He would make no advancement until the priests returned it to its place, refusing to use it that way and sending it back to the city.

He left the outcome wholly with God, trusting that if he should find favor in the eyes of the Lord, the Lord would bring him back to see the ark and His habitation. And if the Lord had no delight in him, he submitted to whatever the Lord saw fit to do to him and judged good. This expresses humble submission to God's will, providence, and judgment amid uncertainty. It was an unselfish and noble decision made in overwhelming affliction, refusing strategy and base expediency and refusing to do wrong in order that good might come to him.