A Sad Story -- Pastor David Tsai

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 – Absalom, my son, my son!”
​(2 Samuel 18:33)
 
After King David danced before the Ark of the Covenant, he had a very mixed record. God told David that he would not build the Temple; he soundly defeated the Philistines and others and become ruler “over all Israel” (2 Sam. 8:15); and he showed kindness to Saul’s grandson, Mephibosheth (son of Jonathan). Perhaps most devastatingly, though, he raped Bathsheba, made her pregnant, had her husband murdered, and married her. The baby conceived in the rape died; Bathsheba then gave David another son, Solomon. Eventually, Solomon would succeed his father, build the Temple, and become one of Israel’s greatest kings, but all that was yet to happen. Right now – in 2 Sam. 13, at any rate – David’s heir is his son Amnon, by his wife Ahinoam. But not for long.
David also had many other children. Two of them, by his wife Maacah, were Absalom and his sister Tamar. 2 Sam. 13 tells us that Amnon raped Tamar, his half-sister; while David was furious, he did not punish Amnon. Absalom took matters into his own hands, taking two years to plot his revenge. He invited all of his brothers and half-brothers to a feast, and there had his servants kill Amnon, who was drunk. Then he fled and lived in a neighboring kingdom for three years. Eventually, David’s captain Joab plotted to have David recall Absalom. Even then, David exiled Absalom from his presence for two more years.
Finally, he agreed to see and forgive Absalom. That could have been the end of a terribly tragic story – but it wasn’t. Absalom spent the next few years plotting against his father and gaining support among the people; then he went to the city of Hebron and raised up a revolt, hoping to claim the throne. This revolt (2 Sam. 16 – 19) even took over Jerusalem, causing David to flee. Eventually, Absalom was defeated and, despite David’s repeated insistence that Absalom be spared, he was killed. David wept for the death of his son – whom, he still loved.
So many tragic decisions meet in this story. If only Amnon had not attacked his half-sister. If only David had held Amnon accountable for what he did to Tamar. If only someone had dissuaded Absalom from his plan sooner. If only David had forgiven Absalom sooner. If only there had been less plotting and more talking. We wish it could have been different. These are the stories of God’s chosen people, we think. Why couldn’t they have been perfect? Come to think of it, why can’t we be perfect?
And yet it is in the Bible – and even heard in churches on Sunday. There is something God wants us to take away from it. G. K. Chesterton wrote: “It is always simple to fall; there are an infinity of angles at which one falls, only one at which one stands.” He was talking about the checkered history of the Christian church, but it applies to this story as well. It is very easy to reject the grace of God. It is very hard to accept it. It is very hard to do the right thing. It is very easy to do the wrong one.
Lord, with David, we lament; with David, we repent;
with David, we seek Your face.