18 Then the king answered the woman, “Do not hide from me anything I ask you.” And the woman said, “Let my lord the king speak.” 19 The king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” The woman answered and said, “As surely as you live, my lord the king, one cannot turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has said. It was your servant Joab who commanded me; it was he who put all these words in the mouth of your servant. 20 In order to change the course of things your servant Joab did this. But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God to know all things that are on the earth.”
21 Then the king said to Joab, “Behold now, I grant this; go, bring back the young man Absalom.” 22 And Joab fell on his face to the ground and paid homage and blessed the king. And Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord the king, in that the king has granted the request of his servant.”
Comment: Did David have his political spies at work to envisage Joab as being behind this push for Absalom’s return? Did Joab have a hidden motive to get Absalom back on site. We have been told that David mourned over this favourite son being away, although Absalom having committed murder in such an open anti-family way must have meant something! At any rate when David asked the woman if Joab had been involved she was intrigued that he should suspect Joab and again ‘raved’ about his wonderful understanding. David told Joab in such a way that Joab knew that David understood that he wanted Absalom back in town. Joab expressed real thanks on his knees before David.
Prayer: Things which seem so simple, can often be very complex. Help me to be discerning and upright, Father.
As I read it! 