Faithfulness: Absalom
God is Present
2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
Rev. Tim Callow Preached
Sun. August 8th, 2021
The Kingship of David can be divided between his success before his adultery and murder, and the struggles after his adultery and murder. Before he committed those heinous deeds the Lord was with him, and he was blessed with victory, wealth, and peace. But following that act we see a very different David. A David who is powerless to control his own family. Who watches, helplessly, as the Kingdom is taken from him by his own son. And is only restored to the Kingship by the grace of God. It is an involved story, but one that I’ll try to tell. in it all we see that while David is forgiven, yet he must live in the consequence of sin. And through it all, God’s faithfulness shows through.
David’s troubles begin with his son Amnon. Amnon grew love sick for his half-sister Tamar. He confessed his love to one of his cousins, who counseled him with an evil scheme. He told him to pretend to be sick, ask for Tamar to prepare food for him in his presence, and when they are alone to take her. So he does this horrible, heinous thing, and Tamar can’t live with the shame. It’s horrible. It’s his father’s sin magnified.
Tamar’s full brother Absalom cannot forgive Amnon for his evil deed. And while David was furious, Amnon was his eldest. So he showed favoritism and didn’t punish him. Absalom chose to take matters into his own hands. So he held a feast with all his brothers, including Amnon. And when Amnon was drunk, he struck, and killed Amnon. After that he fled.
Absalom is really the star of this story, so I ought to properly introduce him. Absalom was a proud man, and very charismatic. But he was also, as you can tell, very vengeful and spiteful. He grew his hair out long, and shaved it once a year because it grew too heavy on his head. The Bible says he has handsome and without blemish. After a few years Joab, David’s chief general, connived to have Absalom return to Jerusalem. When Absalom returned, David refused to see him. This, as you can imagine, bothered Absalom.
Absalom himself then connived to take the Kingdom. He’d sit at the gate with horses and chariots and stop people on their way to see the King. He’d ask them what business they had, and when they told him about their lawsuits and complaints he said the King did not have time for them, and didn’t have any deputies to hear. Then, he’d loudly and openly lament this, and suggest someone else would do a better job. Someone like Absalom.
After awhile Absalom became a very popular figure. Popular enough to form an insurrection of his own. He went to Hebron, the old capitol, and proclaimed himself King, with a priest named Ahithophel as his advisor. There was enough support that David was forced to flee Jerusalem, once again an exile like in his youth. It was then, as Nathan had prophesied, that Absalom took David’s concubines.
Truly David lived with the consequences of sin in this moment. His son Amnon had taken after David with his own sin. Because David was still shackled by sin, he didn’t do what was necessary to punish Amnon. Instead, he excused it. This set off Absalom who had a warrior’s heart like his father’s. And, over time, that same spiritedness led Absalom to take the Kingship from David much as David took Uriah’s life. While David was forgiven his sin, because he had asked forgiveness in perfect contrition, that did not mean he would not need to live with its consequences. That sin dwelt in David’s house, and nearly led to David’s ruin. Imagine if he hadn’t known God’s forgiveness, how far things would have gone.
But God remained faithful to his promise to David, in spite of David’s sin. He would see David through the consequences. As it happened David was able to plant a man by the name of Hushai in Absalom’s inner circle. When time came to summon the war council Absalom asked for advice. Ahithophel first advised that Absalom send him twelve thousand men to take down David before he could muster his forces. This, we are told, was good council. But it didn’t feed into Absalom’s pride and lust for glory. Hushai advised that he wait, form a large force, and strike down David wherever he may be. This plan put Absalom in command. So Absalom chose it. That, we are told, was the beginning of the end.
Which brings us to our passage this morning. The battle has begun, they will fight in the forests of Ephraim. David commands his generals to not kill Absalom if they see him, but instead bring him alive. David waits in the gates of the city to hear the outcome of the battle. He has grown too old to fight his own battles. Absalom’s long hair is his undoing, his pride gets him entangled in the trees of the forest. And as he hangs there Joab chooses to deliberately disobey David’s order and take matters into his own hands. He murders the helpless Absalom.
When word gets back to David we hear one of the most emotional verses of the entire Bible. "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!” He may have won the Kingdom, but at such a high cost. He lost his son, and will never have a chance to reconcile.
God’s promise remains with David. Through it all, despite his sin and despite its consequences, David remains King. But remember what I said before about how God’s promise works. There can be a more immediate fulfillment, and something that we only come to see at a later time. Here God provides a little foreshadowing in the midst of David’s grief, though it is only something we could see on this side of the Resurrection. Doesn’t Absalom remind you of someone? A King. A victim. Hanging on a tree. Stabbed in the side. Even in such heartache and pain, God makes his plans known. Our redemption.