Sunday 24th November
Read 2 Samuel 18:31-33
“Then the Cushite arrived and said, ‘My lord the king, hear the good news! The Lord has vindicated you today by delivering you from the hand of all who rose up against you.’ 32 The king asked the Cushite, ‘Is the young man Absalom safe?’ The Cushite replied, ‘May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to harm you be like that young man.’
33 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 – O Absalom, my son, my son!’” (NIVUK)
David’s grief is poured out in passionate Hebrew, repeated over and over. We have all seen people break down like this. Love rubbed raw. Good news?
There are echoes in these verses that reverberate through scripture, as the cursed son’s doom (hung on a tree) is finally revealed and the Lord’s anointed wishes he could die in his place. David’s greater son, Jesus, would also be hung on tree, suspended between earth and heaven, and would cry out in equally anguished words, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me’…
For David love and justice failed to meet.
When Jesus died, they met perfectly.
