2 Samuel 18: The Heart Of A Father
And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom! My son, my don Absalom! Would GOD I had died for thee, o Absalom, my son, my son 2sam18:33
There are two major characters in this chapter:
Absalom & King David.
1. Absalom, was the son of David. He was a well loved prince. Handsome, resourceful, caring, a great soldier. His grandfather was king of Geshur. He felt he was more qualified than all his father’s children to become king. Physically speaking he appeared the most qualified out of all his father’s son to inherit the throne of his father, King David.
And he planned to take it by force, if need be, so he revolted against his dad and planned to execute a palace coup.
Everything and everyone favoured him in this fight because he had done a great deal to ensure he endeared the people to himself.
Finally in the thick of the war, Absalom was caught up in the branches of a tree, hanging between the heavens and the earth, until Joab had to kill him off.
In Absalom, we see a man who was appalled at his father’s handling of the rape of his sister and allowed his anger and disappointment take the upper hand in his fatal decision.
We see a son who has taken for granted his daddy’s abundant love to commit an unspeakable atrocity.
2. The second character here is King David, his father who half- heartedly prepared to go to battle with his own son but his soldiers dissuaded him.
At this news of his son’s death, David was broken hearted and sorrowful.
An average father would have cursed the son and seen his death as victory.
His son committed an abomination that in death, heaven and earth rejected him. Not king David. He knew the root cause of this rebellion.
Nevertheless, we see unconditional love on the part of King David towards a recalcitrant child. Despite the enormity of the crime of Absalom, (who was willing if need be to take out his own father to satisfy his ambition), King David saw Absalom as a lost child who needed to be found.
We will be quick to point fingers at King David as being too busy with affairs of the kingdom to bring up his children.. Not once did we hear or read that King David punished Absalom in all his excesses hitherto or even scolded his first son, Amnon for raping his half brother.
All the above would have been a fair understanding of what transpired but underneath all these tragedy was a spiritual angle: The crime of David against Uriah and GOD’s judgement. This crime was known only by GOD and David.
Amnon raping his sister, Absalom killing his brother, Absalom rising in war against his father and the death of Absalom. All these were repercussions, consequences of the action when David commited a crime against an innocent man. David broke the hedge and the serpent struck his household, mercilessly.
Amnon, Absalom were helpless in the events that overtook them. The devil entered and had a field day in the family of king David. What will make a brother rape a sister? What will make a brother kill his brother? What will make a son carry out a mutiny against his own loving father? Definitely a force way beyond them. David knew as he watched the consequences of his sin unfold before him. When he pleaded for the army not to kill Absalom; when he wept bitterly over the death of Absalom, he knew it wasn’t Absalom’s fault but he couldn’t tell Joab.
The consequences/ ripple effect of sin usually outweighs the particular sin that was commited and affects other innocent people.
Adam and Eve sinned and the whole creation has been reeling over it since.
So when we sin, whether small or big, GOD understands that we have been brought under a bondage that we actually have no power against it. Sin has become our nature because of the act of Adam and Eve, though we weren’t there when it was committed.
Same way, Amnon and Absalom came under the bondage of sin because of the act of their father, King David.
That David did not bring up his children well because has been proved wrong in the book of proverbs where we hear Solomon testify in more than one place of how his father trained them well. So despite all he King David did to ensure his children are properly trained, sin found a way to mess it all up. But in all these, David chose to love. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
Take Away
1. Let us not easily judge people at face value. We may not know what generational spiritual strongholds that are at work in their lives.
2. Sin’s consequences affect generations on end.
3. The devil uses our weaknesses against us. Absalom was vain, could not forgive, which led him to commit murder and mutiny.
4. Let’s endeavour to give our lives to CHRIST to enjoy freedom from the power of sin over us
5. Just as David forgave his son and was willing to die in his place, the same way GOD forgives us, loves us unconditionally and willingly gave his son to break that stronghold of sin in us.
6. In this chapter we understand the power of love and the heart of a father: There is no sin that GOD cannot forgive if we sincerely repent and come to him to be delivered
Prayers
1. Father deliver me from the consequences of any sin of my parents
2. Father, forgive me from any sin I might have committed and prevent it from being taken out on my children
3. Father, grant me the grace to forgive anyone who has done me evil.