2 Samuel 18:33
There is a saying, “He has a face only a mother could love” that speaks volumes about a mother’s capacity to love. That capacity to love was placed in woman by our heavenly Father. His treatment toward us is a perfect picture of that love. When we see His concern for us, be it in the wilderness or in the Prodigal Son, we are seeing the perfect love that casts out fear (1 John 4:18).
King David had many children, but seemed to have a special place in his heart for Absalom. Perhaps this love stemmed from the fact that the biblical descriptions of Absalom remind us so much of David. His looks, his ability to sway the hearts of men, his warrior tendencies; all seem to speak of a boy that is his father’s child. Absalom grew into rebellion, and then led an army against his father’s palace in Jerusalem. Too concerned for the safety of his child to put up much of a fight, David fled Jerusalem, leaving the city behind to be taken by his son.
David carried a guilt complex with him following the entire incident with Bathsheba. Though forgiven of his sin with her, he was told that there would be some repercussions for his actions. David spent the next several years accepting his fate as being punishment from God; and he felt that Absalom was God’s literal hand at work. For David, fighting against Absalom would have been the equivalent of fighting against God, and he felt that any judgment meted out on him was just and deserved.
When Absalom was killed by Joab, David’s commanding general; David took the news hard and wept openly before all of Israel. His heart wrenching cry turned the day of victory into a day of mourning for the nation (2 Samuel 19:2). “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Samuel 18:33) This cry went forth for a son who had done nothing to earn or elicit such a response. Absalom had caused unparalleled grief in his father’s life for several years, but none of that could take away that father’s undying love for the boy. The wording of David’s cry shows us a man, who has lost his composure; who is beyond caring what those around him might think. This is the cry of a broken heart.
Jesus was on His way into Jerusalem for what would prove to be His final journey before the cross when he saw a panoramic view of the city unfold over the cliff in front of Him. He cried out, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!” (Luke 13:34) Notice the pathos with which Jesus cries over the central city of Israel. This is the same city that David stood in and cried for the dead and undeserving Absalom. Jesus is just as wounded, just as hurt and just as longing for the Jews that will soon reject Him, as David was for the son that just had.
For the lost and dying world that goes about their business around us, let us remember that our Father cries in agony over them. Just as Jesus asked the Father to forgive those who killed Him at Calvary, Jesus still weeps over their souls even now. Only faith separates the sinner from the Savior, but many will not show that faith. May we weep anew today for the unsaved that we know, and be slower to count them out as a lost cause. If the Father loves you, which He does, don’t you think He loves them just as much?
There is a saying, “He has a face only a mother could love” that speaks volumes about a mother’s capacity to love. That capacity to love was placed in woman by our heavenly Father. His treatment toward us is a perfect picture of that love. When we see His concern for us, be it in the wilderness or in the Prodigal Son, we are seeing the perfect love that casts out fear (1 John 4:18).
King David had many children, but seemed to have a special place in his heart for Absalom. Perhaps this love stemmed from the fact that the biblical descriptions of Absalom remind us so much of David. His looks, his ability to sway the hearts of men, his warrior tendencies; all seem to speak of a boy that is his father’s child. Absalom grew into rebellion, and then led an army against his father’s palace in Jerusalem. Too concerned for the safety of his child to put up much of a fight, David fled Jerusalem, leaving the city behind to be taken by his son.
David carried a guilt complex with him following the entire incident with Bathsheba. Though forgiven of his sin with her, he was told that there would be some repercussions for his actions. David spent the next several years accepting his fate as being punishment from God; and he felt that Absalom was God’s literal hand at work. For David, fighting against Absalom would have been the equivalent of fighting against God, and he felt that any judgment meted out on him was just and deserved.
When Absalom was killed by Joab, David’s commanding general; David took the news hard and wept openly before all of Israel. His heart wrenching cry turned the day of victory into a day of mourning for the nation (2 Samuel 19:2). “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Samuel 18:33) This cry went forth for a son who had done nothing to earn or elicit such a response. Absalom had caused unparalleled grief in his father’s life for several years, but none of that could take away that father’s undying love for the boy. The wording of David’s cry shows us a man, who has lost his composure; who is beyond caring what those around him might think. This is the cry of a broken heart.
Jesus was on His way into Jerusalem for what would prove to be His final journey before the cross when he saw a panoramic view of the city unfold over the cliff in front of Him. He cried out, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!” (Luke 13:34) Notice the pathos with which Jesus cries over the central city of Israel. This is the same city that David stood in and cried for the dead and undeserving Absalom. Jesus is just as wounded, just as hurt and just as longing for the Jews that will soon reject Him, as David was for the son that just had.
For the lost and dying world that goes about their business around us, let us remember that our Father cries in agony over them. Just as Jesus asked the Father to forgive those who killed Him at Calvary, Jesus still weeps over their souls even now. Only faith separates the sinner from the Savior, but many will not show that faith. May we weep anew today for the unsaved that we know, and be slower to count them out as a lost cause. If the Father loves you, which He does, don’t you think He loves them just as much?
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