Turn with me to 2 Samuel 18.
Read 2 Samuel 18:24-33.
Here we see a sad picture. King David is well advanced in years. He is no longer the young vibrant man that he once was. He is a broken man. The years had taken their toll on this once strong warrior.
He had seen his family fall apart around him. After his affair with Bathsheba, the family fell apart. David’s eldest son, Absalom, had led a rebellion against him. A rift had developed between David and Absalom. Absalom gathered a group of men to lead a coup against his father. David was forced to leave Jerusalem.
Forces loyal to David met the forces loyal to Absalom. Absalom was riding a mule that went under a thick tree, and his hair got caught up in the tree. The mule ran on, leaving Absalom dangling in the tree. Some of the men loyal to David went and killed him while he was suspended from the tree.
David had given the order to protect his son. He did not want to see Absalom killed. The young man, Ahimaaz, was desperate to tell David the news of the crushed rebellion. The commander of the army thought it better to send the Cushite to tell David. Ahimaaz pestered the commander until he told him to go as well.
Ahimaaz outran the other man, but he didn’t have the nerve to tell the king that his son had been killed. He lost his nerve. The Cushite told him that Absalom was dead. David retreated into the watchtower. There he wept for his son.
It is interesting to compare David’s reaction here with the reaction after his infant son died. When the infant son, who had been born as a result of David and Bathsheba’s affair, fell ill and died, David said, “I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” David’s reaction here is much different this time. His grief is overwhelming. Let’s take a look at…
I. David’s GRIEF.
David’s grief is deep. We see the depth of his grief demonstrated in his inability to come up with words. He says, “My son” five times. Three times he says Absalom’s name. We see his intense grief. David also declares that he would have rather died than Absalom. There are three apparent reasons for David’s grief. The first is…
A. His son’s DISSENT.
David was grieved at his son’s dissent. His son had rebelled against him. Absalom had acted in open disobedience against his father and against God. He led a coup attempt against his father. Absalom had tried to kill his father so he could be king.
One of the quickest ways to throw your parents into despair is to rebel against them. Parents try so hard to keep their kids on the right path, but sometimes the kids wander off the path. That is the quickest way to break a parent’s heart.
David thought of himself as a failure in being a father. He had let his family down. His affair with Bathsheba had plunged the family into a dark period. He saw much of this as a result of his own actions.
David was grieved that his son had walked away from him and the way that he had taught him to go. The second aspect of David’s grief was…
B. His son’s DEATH.
Ask any parent who has lost a child, and they will tell you that it was probably the darkest day of their life. We expect to see our parents and grandparents die. That is how life works. To lose a child is to interrupt that part of life. That isn’t how it should happen, so we think. Unfortunately, it does happen.
David was grieved that his son was dead. It is never easy to lose a child, even they are the rebellious sort like Absalom. His son—his own flesh and blood—was dead. It was of no consolation for the king, that the kingdom was saved. David wasn’t the least bit pleased that he would still be king. That meant nothing to David in the face of his son’s death.
He would rather have died himself, and his son lived. David was willing to die in the place of his wayward son.
David had hoped to reconcile his relationship with his son. He wanted to patch things up and make their relationship right. He wanted to heal the wounds that had led to Absalom’s rebellion.
The third reason David grieved was there were…
C. No DO OVERS.
The reconciliation would not occur now. Absalom was dead. He wasn’t coming back to patch things up with David. Like David had said about his infant son who had died, “He will not return to me.”
Absalom died without reconciliation to his father. There would never be another chance at reconciliation.
There would be no chance to work things out now. Death had sealed the deal. Death made the rift between David and Absalom permanent. Nothing could be done to change anything at this point. Death is final.
We see the grief of David for his son’s dissent, death, and the fact that would be no do-overs. This can easily grieve a father. I see a parallel to this when we consider our relationship, as humans, with the Heavenly Father. We turn now to…
II. God’s GRIEF.
We must be careful in over comparison between what is human and what is divine. I see some interesting parallels though in David’s relationship to Absalom and God’s relationship with us. God grieves because of…
A. Our DISSENT.
Our human nature is bent to dissention against God. We, as humans, are born with a nature to rebel against God. We act on that. We sin. The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
When we sin, we are attempting a coup against God. God’s desire is to be the king of our life. When we sin, we are acting to kick him out of the throne of our lives. Just like Absalom was trying to overthrow King David, we seek to overthrow God in our lives.
This breaks God’s heart. We are as children who rebel and walk away from our Father.
Everyone has sinned. We desire to be in control or our lives. That is human nature, but that doesn’t make it right. God wants to be in control of our life. God is as grieved about our rebellion as any parent is when a child rebels against them.
The second aspect of God’s grief is…
B. Our DEATH.
When we die without being reconciled to God, he is grieved. While we aren’t flesh and blood, per se, we are created in the image of God. The Bible tells us in Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death.”
Sin will lead to death every time. It doesn’t make God happy that he is still the God of the universe when someone dies without being reconciled to him. God’s desire is that all people be reconciled to him.
Just as we desire to have our children outlive us, the reality is that children will sometimes die before their parents. God’s desire is that we would be reconciled to him, but the fact is there are some that won’t be reconciled to him.
God hopes to be reconciled in his relationship with us. He wants to patch things up and make their relationship right. He wants to heal the wounds that have led to our rebellion.
God’s wants to be reconciled to us because there are…
C. No DO OVERS.
We don’t get a second chance once we die. There’s no coming back. There’s not going to be an opportunity to change our mind.
Absalom thought he had forever, but he didn’t. Our time is not guaranteed. Today is the day to be saved.
This isn’t a practice life, so we can get it right next time. This is the only life we will ever have, and it is up to us to look to God for reconciliation. There are no second chances.
We look at David’s statement, “Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom.” We can understand David’s grief. Any parent who has buried a child, or seen a child sick, would rather suffer the fate than the child. When one of my children is sick, I would much rather take the sickness myself than see them suffer through it.
Death is final, and there are no do-overs. So what’s the plan? It is…
III. God’s PLAN.
God has a plan to reconcile us to him. Ever since sin entered the world, God has been working so that we can be reconciled to him. David said that he would rather die than have his rebellious son die.
God would rather die than to have us die without be reconciled to him. That is what he did through his Son Jesus Christ. God has given us the…
A. Promised SAVIOR.
I find it interesting that David said he would rather die than have Absalom die. God had promised David, in 2 Samuel 7 that he would send the Savior through his descendants. In Matthew 1:1 we find that Jesus Christ is called the Son of David. Jesus is the promised Savior.
God has offered us the opportunity to be reconciled to him through his Son Jesus Christ.
In the matter of sin there is a…
B. Required DEATH.
Death is the penalty for sin. “The wages of sin is death.” The penalty must be paid.
The Good News is that it has been paid. Jesus died for our sins. He paid the price in full. He covered our tab when he was nailed to the cross. David said that he would have died for his son, but Jesus did die for us.
Death isn’t where it ends. There is…
C. New LIFE.
Jesus offers us new life. Jesus offers us eternal life in Heaven. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The penalty for sin is death, but when we accept Jesus’ payment for our sins we receive a gift. Eternal life is our gift from Jesus.
When we accept an offer from an insurance company, we usually get a gift. It is usually some hokey little thing that is junky. We may receive a pen or deck of cards or something like that.
When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we get the greatest gift of all: eternal life through him. What could be better than that?
Conclusion
Are you rebelling against God? It may not be something that seems like a big deal. You probably haven’t killed anyone or robbed a bank. That doesn’t matter because we all are sinners. Attitudes are just as destructive as actions of sin. Remember that our sin is rooted in the fact that we want to kick God off the throne of our life. We want to be in charge. When we ask Jesus to be our Savior, we are asking him to be the King of life. We want to put him on the throne of our life, which is where he belongs.
Bow your heads. Close your eyes.
Is Jesus Lord of your life today? Have you put him on the throne? If not, Jesus is waiting for you to ask him to King of your life. The gift of God is eternal life, and it’s free.
If you would like Jesus to come into your heart today, pray with me silently.
Dear Jesus,
With your heads bowed and no one looking around, if you just prayed that prayer, indicate it by raising your hand. Tell someone today that you prayed that prayer.
