written by Paul Schmitt

King David was devastated when he heard of the death of his son Absalom. He wept when he had heard the news and cried out “If only I had died instead of you!” David wanted to die in the place of his rebellious son. When you step back and think of it, what David could not do, God did by sending His Son Jesus to die in the place of rebellious sinners. Christ died for all our sins, so we could have everlasting life with Him forever.

Yes, Absalom was a rebel and a traitor to his father the King and to the Israel nation but he was still David’s flesh and blood. David should have shown more concern for Israel than his son, however on the contrary, he shows the great bond of love between a parent and a child. When I read this, all I can think of is the great love between God our Father and His children. An unconditional love that only God provides for us on a day to day basis. How comforting is that to know that you are loved by the King every single day!

David could have reacted in the opposite way and said: I am pleased that my son is finally dead for he is now out of my life, and there will be peace in my realm and calm to my troubled life. But NO, he is a father first, and he loves his own offspring. It is a father that speaks, and a father’s love can survive the hostility of a son. As Charles Spurgeon once said: “Our children may thrust themselves into the worst of sins, but they are still our children. They may laugh at our God; they may tear our heart to pieces with their wickedness; yet we cannot take complacency in them, but at the same time we cannot unchild them, nor erase their image from our hearts.”

David realized in part that he was responsible for Absalom’s death. Nathan, the prophet, had rebuked David and said that because he had killed Uriah; his own sons would rebel against him. “The sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife….. I will raise up adversity against you from your own household (2 Samuel 12:10-11). If David would have known the consequences of his sin, he might not have pursued the pleasures of the moment. As we said earlier, David truly loved his son, even though Absalom did nothing to deserve his love. It would have been kinder and more loving to deal with Absalom and his runaway ego when he was younger. I am sure things would have been different.

A fellow traveler, Paul