2 Samuel 17:12
So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one. So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.
This counsel was the counter-plan offered to Absalom after Ahithophel had urged an immediate pursuit of David by night while he was weary and weak-handed. It was given because Ahithophel's plan, if followed, would have resulted in David being slain unless God directly interposed to save him. To turn Absalom away from immediate action, the argument was made that David and his men were mighty men, enraged like a bear robbed of her whelps. It was further urged that David, as a man of war, would not lodge with his people but would be hidden in a pit or in some other place, so that the pursuit would fail to seize him and any reverse would dishearten Absalom's cause.
In place of a swift strike, the proposal was to gather all Israel from Dan to Beersheba, numerous as the sand by the sea, with Absalom himself going to battle in person. With that vast force they would come upon David in whatever place he was found and light upon him as the dew falls on the ground, falling upon him irresistibly until neither he nor any of the men with him was left. If he sheltered in a city, the whole army was to bring ropes to drag that city into the river until not one small stone remained. The scheme appealed to a vain and selfish nature fond of a show of power, it was judged better than Ahithophel's counsel, and by God's appointment to defeat Ahithophel's sound counsel in order to bring evil upon Absalom, it ensured the ruin of the rebels.