2 Samuel 15:4
Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice! Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!
Absalom's cry to be made judge was not empty ambition but a calculated use of real failures and delays in the administration of justice to win the people's favor. He stationed himself to meet each complainant, listened to his story, assured him his case was right, told him the king had appointed no one to hear it, and promised that if he himself were judge every man with suit or cause who came to him would receive a just settlement. That ready sympathy was undue and inappropriate, extended even to those who in no way deserved it.
His promise was a political scheme to draw the sympathies of others to himself and to turn dissatisfaction with the government to his own advantage. The same wrong way appears when visitors stir sick minds to feel they are not treated as they deserve to be treated. It is followed by suggesting or indulging evil thoughts, by raising dissatisfaction or criticism about rooms, furniture, or those in charge, by sympathizing injudiciously with supposed grievances, and by deepening a patient's impression that he is neglected and deprived of what is justly his due.
Instead, those who deal with feeble bodies and diseased minds are to understand the minds they meet, to make conditions favorable to cheerfulness and contentment, and to keep a living connection with God. Encouraging complaint sows a seed that bears a harvest of discontent and does soul-destroying work for the enemy. In ministers the same Absalom-like spirit shows itself in seeking to draw the sympathies of others to self, living on being petted and given what is desired, and returning flattering sympathy, which is unlike the true, firm, open, decided, unselfish friend. The remedy is straightforward work with no conniving at evil and no calling good evil and evil good, for unless a man is changed and converted from that spirit he should not be kept in the ministry.