The writer referred to David no less than five time in this section as "the king"leaving no doubt as to who was the legitimate ruler and who was really in charge. Perhaps David instructed his three commanders to deal gently with Absalom not only because he was his son, but because God had dealt gently with David for his sins.
"The truth was that David acted as a father but not as a king--as if he and Absalom had had some minor domestic quarrel which could be put right by an apology and a handshake. He failed to see Absalom as a traitor and a rebel, whose actions had caused a great deal of harm to the stability and welfare of the kingdom, to say nothing of the great loss of life in the civil war (verse 7). Yet every parent will feel a good deal of sympathy with David's viewpoint."255
