Father Mike Schmitz hosts the Bible in a Year podcast, reading through Scripture using The Great Adventure Bible timeline from Ascension. He reads from the Revised Standard Version, 2nd Catholic Edition as he guides listeners through the complete biblical narrative from Genesis to Revelation.

Day 133 covers 2 Samuel 15, 1 Chronicles 19-20, and Psalm 3, focusing on Absalom's rebellion against his father King David. The 1 Chronicles passages provide flashbacks to David's military victories, emphasizing God's plan to restore the kingdom, temple, and worship.

The episode explores themes of trust during crisis, leadership under pressure, and the consequences of past failures. Father Mike emphasizes how David wrote Psalm 3 - a psalm of trust in God - while fleeing from his own son who sought to kill him and take his throne.

Absalom's Strategic Rebellion Against David

Absalom positioned himself at Jerusalem's gate with chariots, horses, and 50 men, intercepting citizens seeking royal judgment and promising them justice while claiming "there is no man deputed by the king to hear you."

"Thus Absalom did to all Israel who came to the king for judgment, so Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel" over a four-year period of strategic positioning.

Absalom used a religious vow as cover, asking to go to Hebron to "offer worship to the Lord" while secretly sending messengers throughout Israel to declare "Absalom is king at Hebron" when they heard the trumpet.

David's Humble Flight from Jerusalem

When David learned "The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom," he immediately ordered his household to flee, saying "Go in haste, lest ye overtake us quickly, and bring down evil upon us."

David demonstrated sacrificial leadership by standing and watching as "all his servants passed by him" and "all the people passed by" - ensuring everyone's safety while bearing the shame of his past failures as king and father.

David told priests Zadok and Abiathar to return the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, declaring "If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord he will bring me back, and let me see both it and his habitation."

Trust in God During Crisis - Psalm 3

Father Mike emphasizes that Psalm 3 was "written while David was fleeing from Absalom" - a psalm of trust composed during David's darkest hour when "everything is falling down around you."

"I'm not going to wait till the battle is won to trust you. I'm going to trust you in the middle of the battle" - Father Mike on David's faith during the crisis with his son.

The psalm declares "I am not afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me round about" and "Deliverance belongs to the Lord" despite David being hunted by his own son.

David's Military Victories in Chronicles Flashback

David's forces defeated a coalition of 32,000 chariots hired by the Ammonites from Mesopotamia, with David personally slaying "the men of seven thousand chariots and forty thousand foot soldiers."

The spring campaign against Rabbah yielded a crown weighing "a talent of gold" with a precious stone that was placed on David's head, plus "a very great amount" of spoil.

David's warriors killed multiple descendants of giants, including "a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number."

Consequences of Past Inaction and Call to Action

Father Mike traces the crisis to David's pattern of inaction: "this all started with failing to lift up the head and act on justice, act and do what was right in David's own family, in his own life."

Ahitophel's betrayal particularly devastated David, possibly inspiring Psalm 41's words about "my own familiar friend whom I trust, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me."

Father Mike calls listeners to "take that step, to either offer forgiveness or receive forgiveness, to offer reconciliation or receive reconciliation" before it's too late.