2 Samuel 17:3
And I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace. And I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace.
Ahithophel's counsel was to strike swiftly at David himself while he was weary and vulnerable, taking his life alone rather than waging a general battle against his adherents. Once the king was dead, those who had fled with him would lay down their resistance and come back in submission to Absalom, leaving the whole nation settled and at rest under the new rule. Humanly speaking the scheme was sound and promised complete success, for nothing but direct intervention from the Lord could have prevented its accomplishment. Behind the unfolding events a higher wisdom was at work, overruling human plotting and ordering circumstances so that Ahithophel's shrewd advice would be set aside and brought to nothing.