Then the man from Ethiopia arrived and said, “I have good news for my lord the king. Today the LORD has rescued you from all those who rebelled against you.” “What about young Absalom?” the king demanded. “Is he all right?” And the Ethiopian replied, “May all of your enemies, my lord the king, both now and in the future, share the fate of that young man!” The king was overcome with emotion. He went up to the room over the gateway and burst into tears. And as he went, he cried, “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 18.31-33]
I cannot imagine the grief and confusion David must have been experiencing at this point in his life.
His own son Absalom, who would have killed his father without hesitation, was killed in battle and David was overcome with grief.
Keep in mind that Nathan the prophet had predicted such circumstances as a curse for David's sin in murdering Uriah to get Uriah's wife Bathsheba.
What a messed up situation.
Imagine being the most beloved king of Israel and yet having these circumstances.
Even though David would go down in history as Israel's beloved king, we have in him perhaps one of the most profound examples of God's disdain for sin.
For me, this is a story designed to show the importance of repentance. Could have these events in David's life following his sin with Bathsheba been avoided? Could David have been more thorough in repenting over his sin and seen more of God's mercy? We just don't know because all we have record of is all we have! To me though, it seems David drew his resolve to stop his repentance when the child died - and that was not even the beginning of the curses that Nathan had predicted...
Father, help us to see repentance as a lifestyle... certainly one of humility.
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