“O
ut of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight” (2 Samuel 12:11,12).
How sad it is when we see a beautiful Christian family crumble. To witness this relationship—once designed for love, joy, and harmony—become filled with hatred, spite, and retribution is a very sad thing. We’ve all seen it happen. We’ve all seen the destruction it causes. What a wasted society where father, mother, or children would rather be miles apart than living under the same roof.
King David had such a family. Many of his problems were the result of his sin with Bathsheba. Nathan warned David there would be consequences for that sin. First, the baby they conceived would die. Second, David’s life would be consumed as a warrior, and third, his family would be torn apart with bitter conflict.
One of David’s sons was Absalom, the son of Maacah, daughter of a foreign king. What a beautiful son he was! The Bible says that “in all Israel there was not a man so highly praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the top of his head to the sole of his foot there was no blemish in him. Whenever he cut the hair of his head . . . he would weigh it, and its weight was two hundred shekels [about 5 pounds]” (14:25,26).
David loved Absalom, but Absalom didn’t share that love. Rather, his life was focused on creating chaos for his father. His goal was not to succeed David, but to replace him.
As a young man, Absalom murdered his brother for raping his sister. He then fled for three years during which he plotted his way back into the palace. When he finally returned, he did everything he could to destroy his father. Absalom would sit at the city gates and convince people that he was the one who could serve them best, not his aging father, David.
After David was forced to flee Jerusalem, Absalom struck a final blow when in plain sight of all the people, he carried out a sexual orgy with David’s concubines. His mind was filled with evil, his heart with selfish schemes. Satan had become his master.
David had to fight Absalom’s troops. In that battle Absalom was caught in a low-hanging oak branch, and David’s general “took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom’s heart” (2 Samuel 18:14). His life of violence ended in violence. The curse spoken by Nathan was fulfilled.
And so David mourned his son’s death: “O my son Absalom! . . . O Absalom, my son, my son!” (18:33). What parent can’t sympathize with David’s torment? Many families house a wayward son or daughter. Many families still feel hurt like that of David. How devastating it is to learn that a wayward son or daughter may have died long before he or she could repent of wickedness.
Second Samuel 18:18 tells us one last thing about Absalom. While alive, Absalom had built a pillar, a monument to himself in the King’s Valley saying, “‘I have no son to carry on the memory of my name.’ He named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom’s Monument to this day.” Today, just outside the walls of Jerusalem, stands a monument called Absalom’s pillar. And if you watch as the people pass by, you will see them throw stones and spit upon it. The legacy of Absalom lives on.
David realized his sin and confessed it before his Lord and Savior. There he found forgiveness and peace that he reflected on when he wrote: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Psalm 51:12).
Prayer thought: Pray for your family.
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