June 20, 2024 | Be God's Light
David Mourns Deeply for Absalom's Death
Scripture: 2 Samuel 18:19-19:8 (NIV)
19 Now Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Let me run and take the news to the king that the Lord has vindicated him by delivering him from the hand of his enemies.”
20 “You are not the one to take the news today,” Joab told him. “You may take the news another time, but you must not do so today, because the king’s son is dead.”
21 Then Joab said to a Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed down before Joab and ran off.
22 Ahimaaz son of Zadok again said to Joab, “Come what may, please let me run behind the Cushite.”
But Joab replied, “My son, why do you want to go? You don’t have any news that will bring you a reward.”
23 He said, “Come what may, I want to run.”
So Joab said, “Run!” Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and outran the Cushite.
24 While David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall. As he looked out, he saw a man running alone. 25 The watchman called out to the king and reported it.
The king said, “If he is alone, he must have good news.” And the runner came closer and closer.
26 Then the watchman saw another runner, and he called down to the gatekeeper, “Look, another man running alone!”
The king said, “He must be bringing good news, too.”
27 The watchman said, “It seems to me that the first one runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok.”
“He’s a good man,” the king said. “He comes with good news.”
28 Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, “All is well!” He bowed down before the king with his face to the ground and said, “Praise be to the Lord your God! He has delivered up those who lifted their hands against my lord the king.”
29 The king asked, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”
Ahimaaz answered, “I saw great confusion just as Joab was about to send the king’s servant and me, your servant, but I don’t know what it was.”
30 The king said, “Stand aside and wait here.” So he stepped aside and stood there.
31 Then the Cushite arrived and said, “My lord the king, hear the good news! The Lord has vindicated you today by delivering you from the hand of all who rose up against you.”
32 The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”
The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to harm you be like that young man.”
33 The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!”
1 Joab was told, “The king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.” 2 And for the whole army the victory that day was turned into mourning, because on that day the troops heard it said, “The king is grieving for his son.” 3 The men stole into the city that day as men steal in who are ashamed when they flee from battle. 4 The king covered his face and cried aloud, “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!”
5 Then Joab went into the house to the king and said, “Today you have humiliated all your men, who have just saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters and the lives of your wives and concubines. 6 You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. You have made it clear today that the commanders and their men mean nothing to you. I see that you would be pleased if Absalom were alive today and all of us were dead. 7 Now go out and encourage your men. I swear by the Lord that if you don’t go out, not a man will be left with you by nightfall. This will be worse for you than all the calamities that have come on you from your youth till now.”
8 So the king got up and took his seat in the gateway. When the men were told, “The king is sitting in the gateway,” they all came before him.
Meanwhile, the Israelites had fled to their homes.
Devotional
Yesterday we read how David’s son Absalom was killed in battle after rebelling against his father and proclaiming himself as king. Absalom’s death would have meant that David could safely return to his throne in Jerusalem. But when he received the news, he could only cry out, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!”
Rather than a victory march, the people who had fled their homes returned with mournful, heavy hearts. They joined their king in weeping for his dead son, at least on the outside.
The king’s commander, Joab, is the one who had killed Absalom. He confronted David for outwardly grieving his rebellious son. He warned the king that everyone would turn on him if he didn’t change his tune. Joab was a fierce, decisive warrior. He had previously killed Abner and Amasa, rival commanders who were political threats to his position. Perhaps he saw Absalom the same way, figuring the only way to keep his top military position was to eliminate the biggest threat to David’s throne.
When this book of 2 Samuel gives way to 1 Kings, David names his son Solomon to take his place on the throne. But there, Joab backed the wrong horse, conspiring with Adonijah to become the next king instead of Solomon. Joab paid for all this treachery with his life. Thinking of all those Joab had killed, Solomon said, “May the guilt of their blood rest on the head of Joab and his descendants forever. But on David and his descendants, his house and his throne, may there be the Lord’s peace forever” (1 Kings 2:33).
Numbers 32:23 says, “your sin will find you out.” It’s true. We can’t hide forever. Paul put it like this in 1 Timothy 5:24, “The sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them.”
That’s the bad news. But the opposite is equally as true. Paul goes on to say, “In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden forever” (1 Timothy 5:25). It’s up to you which kind of trail you want to leave.
Poem
Grief Unquenchable
None can know
My grief unquenchable
It cannot be sated
My Love, O, My Love
The black hole
Eternally gaping
Sucking life, never filled
My Love, O, My Love
Were it I
Instead of you
How much better
My Love, O, My Love
Never again
Will my Son rise
A dawn to greet me
My Love, O, My Love
The dark shroud
Of grief’s tomb
I cannot unbind
My Love, O, My Love
Go away!
Do not try to
Console me…
My Love, O, My Love
