2 Samuel 17:1
Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night: Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night:
Ahithophel, having secured his own safety, pressed for immediate action against David, urging that he be allowed to choose twelve thousand men and set out in pursuit that very night. His strategy was to fall upon David while he was weary and weak-handed, to frighten him and scatter the followers with him, to strike the king alone, and then to bring all the people back to Absalom. The plan commended itself to Absalom's counselors, who approved it.
Had it been carried out, David would surely have been slain unless the Lord had directly interposed to save him. A higher wisdom was directing events, for the Lord had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel in order to bring evil upon Absalom.