2 Samuel 19:11
And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, even to his house. And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, even to his house.
2 Samuel 19:11 is part of the account of David's victory over Absalom and his return to Jerusalem after fleeing from Jerusalem during the war against Absalom. It belongs to the history of David's reign with its difficulties, including the sad consequences of his many wives and of sons he was unable to control, Absalom's rebellion against him and the death of the petted idol of the kingdom, David's lament and return to Jerusalem, his troubles with Joab, and his numbering of the people.
It is part of the story in chapters 13 to 20 of troubles in David's family growing out of David multiplying wives to himself, which resulted in a large family of children by different wives where idleness, luxury, and jealousy developed unenviable characters. The troubles revolve around Absalom the beautiful, whose ambitions were roused by lavish flattery poured out upon a shrewd and handsome prince. They include the base conduct of Absalom, the treachery of Ahithophel, the cursing of Shimei, the fear and flight of the king, his affecting journey touching the hearts of his old friends, the defeat of Absalom, and the sorrow of his father over his wicked son's fate.
It falls within the history of the retribution for David's wicked conduct toward Uriah, whose consequences continued through the rest of David's life, chiefly within his family, including Absalom's rebellion. That retribution included unnatural crimes. It falls within the account of David's later history, which shows the fulfillment of Nathan's prophetic denunciation through judgments that came upon David.
The detailed faithfulness of the whole account stamps it with inspiration, showing that God does not hide the sins of the greatest of kings. It shows that wrongdoing brings consequences of its own kind. Its great lesson is that no one can walk contrary to God's laws and not suffer, for even when God does not openly reprove and seems to overlook, every transgression of divine law carries its inherent curse. In this chapter David's kindness to the house of Saul is still in evidence.