The day of the big battle has arrived, and David has two things on his mind: the first is to make sure that his army is ready to achieve their objective; the second is the welfare of his son.

We know that David was an experienced general, and he’s selected three commanders who have good military resumes themselves. He’s provided for a good organizational structure, and ensured that the location of the battle is as optimum as possible. And finally, he has wisely listened to the counsel of the folks he’s ‘hired’ to get the job done, and has agreed to lead from the rear while they go out and do the work. The implication is that all of that organizational work took hardly any time at all.

What David thinks is most important, and where he puts his time and energy, is to communicate a message about his son. He speaks not only to the generals, but to EACH of the other commanders – and in such a way that all of the soldiers heard it – “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake.” As the army marched out, that was the last thing that they heard from the mouth of their supreme commander. David gave that speech at least 100 times, and perhaps many more.

David could see, even better than we can, that his son was treasonous, treacherous, sinful, willful, misdirected, arrogant, ignorant, spiteful, malicious, and even hateful. And yet he still had hope that Absalom could be brought back into a relationship with him (and with God) in such a way that it would allow him to be restored to fellowship. David still expected that, eventually, Absalom would be rewarded with the whole kingdom of Israel when David died. In my mind, this qualifies him, as much as anything else, to be regarded as “a man after God’s own heart.” (1 Samuel 13:14) David’s attitude here is a practical example of the way God interacts with us: no matter what we do or how far away we get, He is still seeking us out and working tirelessly to get us to come back into a relationship with Him.

If you find yourself, today, in a difficult (or even non-existent) relationship with one of your children, David’s example says that it is not too late to try to fix things. Consider yourself fortunate if your children are “merely” wayward, or difficult, or even antagonistic to your faith and values – David’s experience reminds us that it could be far worse! Today I’ll be praying for my kids, and I’m going to make a special point to let them know that I love them. Care to join me?

A fellow traveler,
Dave