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and a smile. Then he smiled lightly and said, “Yes, perhaps he will.”
    “What will you do? Do you have plans?”
    “No. None. Quite frankly, I have no idea what to do. I have fought many battles and faced many sieges. I have usually known what to do. But for this occasion, I have only the experience of my youth to draw on. The course I followed at that time seems to be the best I can follow now.”
    “And what course was that?”
    “To do absolutely nothing.”

 
Chapter 23
    David was alone again. Slowly, quietly, he walked the length of his rooftop garden. Finally he paused and spoke aloud to himself.
    “I have waited, Absalom. I have waited and watched for years. I have asked again and again, ‘What is in the heart of this young man?’ And now I know. You will do the unthinkable. You will divide the very kingdom of God. All else was talk.”
    David was quiet for a moment. Then, almost in awe, he spoke, his voice hushed. “Absalom does not hesitate to divide the kingdom of God .
    “Now I know. He seeks followers. Or at least he does not turn them away. Though he seems magnificently pure and noble, still he divides. His followers grow, even though he states convincingly that he has none.”
    For a long time David said nothing. Finally, with a trace of humor in his words, he began to address himself. “All right, good King David, you have one issue resolved. You are in the middle of a division, and you may very well be dethroned. Now, to the second issue.” He paused, lifted his hand and, almost fatally, asked, “What will you do ?
    “The kingdom hangs in the balance. It seems I have two choices: to lose everything or to be a Saul. I can stop Absalom. I need only to be a Saul. In my old age, shall I now become a Saul? I feel the Lord himself awaits my decision.
    “Shall I now be a Saul?” he asked himself again, this time loudly.
    A voice from behind answered, “Good King, he has been no David to you.”
    David turned. It was Abishai who had approached unannounced.
    “A crowded place, this terrace,” quipped David.
    “Sir?” said Abishai.
    “Nothing. Suffice it to say I have not been without visitors today—a day when I would have chosen solitude. What did you say to me? In fact, what did I say?”
    “You said, ‘Shall I be a Saul to Absalom?’ and I replied, ‘He has been no young David to you.’”
    “I never challenged Saul; I never attempted to divide the kingdom during his reign. Is that what you are saying?”
    “More,” replied Abishai strongly. “Saul was evil toward you and made your life torture. You responded only with respect and private agony. The bad things that happened in those days came only from one side. All fell on you. Yet you could have divided the kingdom and probably could have overthrown Saul. But rather than do that, you left the kingdom. You fled rather than cause division. You risked your life for unity and sealed your lips and eyes to all his injustices. You had more cause to rebel than any man in the history of this—or of any kingdom that has ever been. Absalom has to twist hard to conjure up his list of injustices . . . few of them significant, I might add.
    “Has Absalom behaved as you did? Has Absalom respected you? Does Absalom seek to preserve the kingdom? Does he refuse to speak against you? Does Absalom turn aside followers? Has Absalom left the land to prevent its being sundered? Is Absalom respectful? Does he bear suffering in silent agony? Have bad things fallen on Absalom?
    “No, he is only pure and noble!”
    Abishai’s last words came out almost in bites. Then he continued, more gravely this time.
    “His grievances are minor compared to your rightful grievances toward Saul. You never mistreated Saul. And you have never, in any way, been unfair to Absalom.”
    David interrupted with a grin. “I seem to have a gift for making old men and young men hate me without a cause. In my youth, the old attacked me; when I am old, the young attack me.