What does 2 Samuel 16:16 mean?

Absalom has been sneaky. For four years, he drove a chariot behind fifty guards to the city gate early in the morning. As people came to present their problems to David, Absalom intercepted them. He claimed David didn't care enough to assign them a judge. He's managed to win the hearts of a significant number of people throughout the nation (2 Samuel 15:1–6). Somehow, he's also earned the loyalty of David's advisor Ahithophel (2 Samuel 15:12), he whose counsel "was as if one consulted the word of God" to the people (2 Samuel 16:23).

Absalom's plan was strategic and successful. The fact that he kept his work from David proves his skill. But it's not subtle. David shows that a full-on attack isn't always best. He's recruited his friend Hushai to infiltrate Absalom's group of advisors. He's the one man who's clever enough to mitigate whatever damage Ahithophel will plan (2 Samuel 15:32–37).

First, however, Hushai must win Absalom's trust. When Absalom questions him, Hushai repeats David's words, "And again, whom should I serve? Should it not be his son? As I have served your father, so I will serve you" (2 Samuel 16:19).

Ahithophel's guidance shapes Absalom's first major act. He tells Absalom to sleep with David's concubines, to show his followers that he has taken the kingdom from David (2 Samuel 16:20–22). But when Ahithophel presents his scheme to destroy David quickly, Hushai alters the plan just enough to allow David and his people to get to safety (2 Samuel 17).