Read 2 Samuel 18

According to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, each year over 50,000 children die in the United States. But numbers cannot begin to describe the effects on the lives of those who experience such a tragedy. Overwhelming grief, marital stress, and often a crisis of faith follow in the wake of this kind of loss. For David, the experience was especially bitter, knowing that his own sin resulted in such painful consequences.

Today’s passage describes the climax of Absalom’s rebellion against his father, David. For some time he had been working to steal the kingdom away from his father. The root of Absalom’s bitterness toward David probably originated with the rape of his sister, Tamar, by their half-brother Amnon. Although David was upset by the offense, he did nothing (see 2 Samuel 13).

David seems to have been out of touch during this family and national crisis. This is reflected in the aged king’s unrealistic offer to march into battle with the army (v. 2). His men recognized that this was a bad plan and persuaded him to remain behind. David’s final charge to the commanders as they departed was essentially a plea to protect Absalom from harm: “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake” (v. 5). This too was unrealistic.

Absalom’s end was as brutal as it was ironic. Absalom’s hair had always been a point of pride, but during the battle his head became entangled in an oak tree. The first soldier to see him hanging there remembered the king’s plea and refused to kill him. But Joab fatally wounded Absalom and then watched as ten of his men beat him to death (vv. 11–15). David’s pitiful cry when news of this “victory” reached him echoes the sentiment of every parent who has lost a child: “If only I had died instead of you!” (v. 33).

APPLY THE WORD

Not every story has a happy ending, and we are unwise to pin a pretty bow on every grief and sorrow. We never get over the loss of a child, but we are also not abandoned to our pain. Our Heavenly Father also experienced such a loss, and He promises to walk with us even in the valley of the shadow of death.

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