Wednesday Thought -- October 26, 2011

Good Morning Friends,

Absalom, David’s son, betrayed him.  He plotted and schemed to take the throne from David and succeed in doing so.  David and those who were loyal to him marched out of Jerusalem and Absalom and his army marched into the city.  Absalom took up residence in the palace that David had built and he was king in Israel.  Still Absalom was not content.  He was afraid to leave David alone and so brought his army out of Jerusalem to find David, attack him, and put an end to any threat he might be.

But God was with David and when the battle came to him, God gave David’s army victory over the much larger army that Absalom had under his command.  Absalom himself died in disgrace.  “Now Absalom happened to meet David's men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom's head got caught in the tree.  He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going.” (2 Samuel 18:9)  While hanging there by his hair, Joab’s men found Absalom and killed him.

This news reached David and here was David’s response to Absalom’s death.  “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!’"  (2 Samuel 18:33)

Absalom was David’s enemy, his betrayer.  Absalom had taken David’s throne and now sought to take David’s life.  But Absalom was also David’s son and the love David had for Absalom far outweighed his fear and distress over what Absalom had done to him.  David did not rejoice in the death of an enemy, instead he deeply mourned the loss of his son.  David’s heart was broken by the disaster that had come upon Absalom.

God delivered Absalom and his army into the hands of David’s men.  Logic said the battle should have gone the other way, but God intervened to help David.  But that didn’t mean that David needed to rejoice in the disaster that befell his enemy.

When we see those who oppose us disciplined and punished by the Lord, do we rejoice in their suffering or weep because of their pain?  How we respond to the pain of others, and especially to the pain of those who oppose us, says a lot about our hearts.

His, by Grace,

Steve