DAVID ON THE RUN (2 Samuel 14-15)

A part of my heart breaks as I read of David's struggles with Absalom, and how far David fell.

God brought about the discipline He promised David because of his sin with Bathsheba: Trouble would arise out of his own family.

Absalom set himself up as king--in Hebron, no less, the town which first recognized David as king over

Judah. The town which should have been in David's corner instead crowned his son.

Why Absalom thought he should be king is beyond me.  He was third-born, after Ahinoam and Kileab. Not to mention the fact that he killed his brother Amnon, after he raped their sister. None of that would have mattered, of course, if God wanted Absalom to be king. He did nothing that David himself didn't do, but David had a heart after God and apparently Absalom didn't.

David obviously loved Absalom and saw him with a father's rose-colored glasses. But unlike his father, Absalom didn't wait for God's timing. David waited for seven years after Saul's death before he became king over all Israel. Absalom wrenched it out his father's hands while he was still alive.

David, however, still, always, aware of his dependence on God, refused to take the ark of the covenant with him. It didn't belong to him, but to God, and God's people. God wasn't a thing to be carted around at his convenience.

Today's reading ends in mid-story, before David was restored as king. I couldn't help but notice that David left Jerusalem by way of the Mount of Olives. At the very place where centuries later Jesus would spend hours in prayer, weeping, seeking a different way for our salvation--David ascended, head covered and barefooted, weeping.

God was kind to David. He didn't climb alone. The "whole army" went with him, crying as they went. I wonder if that brought David any comfort.

And God gave David the means to defeat Absalom in the person of Ahithophel.

Thoughts for us today?

• We reap what we sow.
• There is a right way and a wrong way to face adversity,
• God does not abandon us even when He disciplines us.
• God is at work even when we don't see it.
• Tears are okay.
• We can lean on others when we are grieving.

God bless, everyone!