David Mourns

2 Samuel 18:19-19:4

¹⁹ Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Let me run and carry news to the king that the Lord has delivered him from the hand of his enemies.”

²⁰ And Joab said to him, “You are not to carry news today. You may carry news another day, but today you shall carry no news, because the king’s son is dead.”

²¹ Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go, tell the king what you have seen.” The Cushite bowed before Joab, and ran.

²² Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said again to Joab, “Come what may, let me also run after the Cushite.” And Joab said, “Why will you run, my son, seeing that you will have no reward for the news?”

²³ “Come what may,” he said, “I will run.” So he said to him, “Run.” Then Ahimaaz ran by the way of the plain, and outran the Cushite.

²⁴ Now David was sitting between the two gates, and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate by the wall, and when he lifted up his eyes and looked, he saw a man running alone.

²⁵ The watchman called out and told the king. And the king said, “If he is alone, there is news in his mouth.” And he drew nearer and nearer.

²⁶ The watchman saw another man running. And the watchman called to the gate and said, “See, another man running alone!” The king said, “He also brings news.”

²⁷ The watchman said, “I think the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.” And the king said, “He is a good man and comes with good news.”

²⁸ Then Ahimaaz cried out to the king, “All is well.” And he bowed before the king with his face to the earth and said, “Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delivered up the men who raised their hand against my lord the king.”

²⁹ And the king said, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” Ahimaaz answered, “When Joab sent the king’s servant, your servant, I saw a great commotion, but I do not know what it was.”

³⁰ And the king said, “Turn aside and stand here.” So he turned aside and stood still.

³¹ And behold, the Cushite came, and the Cushite said, “Good news for my lord the king! For the Lord has delivered you this day from the hand of all who rose up against you.”

³² The king said to the Cushite, “Is it well with the young man Absalom?” And the Cushite answered, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up against you for evil be like that young man.”

³³ And the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

^19:1 It was told Joab, “Behold, the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.”

 ² So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people, for the people heard that day, “The king is grieving for his son.”

³ And the people stole into the city that day as people steal in who are ashamed when they flee in battle.

⁴ The king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, “O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

While David desired mercy for his rebellious son, his troops did not honor that request. Absalom is ruthlessly killed and buried under a pile of rocks. David is bereft. And the one thing David has almost always been honest about is his emotions. The death of his son rips out his heart and his display of grief is overwhelming. David is a passionate man and this circumstance brings all of those passions to the surface. We have now seen David lose three sons, but the pain of this loss seems the worst.

One of the things that David teaches us is that emotional honesty won’t kill you. It can be difficult, but it won’t kill you. (Now don’t get me wrong – all that weeping is going to bite David a little bit, but that comes later.) We tend to hold our emotional cards very close to the vest, especially in an American (or European) culture. We don’t like to show weakness and emotions have wrongfully been tied to weakness. Where we see David the most vulnerable is before the Lord, and here is where his example shines.

Does God know how you feel? Of course He does. Is there any safer place to share your joys, fears, sorrows, and sadness than with the Lord? Nope. So why don’t we spend time getting honest before the Lord about our feelings? There are probably many reasons, but I believe that the biggest one is that we don’t want to get honest with ourselves and actually feel those emotions. It’s easier to put them in a box and pretend they don’t exist. Then we don’t have to deal with the pain that accompanies many of our emotions. But God created us as emotional beings. It pleased Him to make us complete in that way. So hiding them from Him or ourselves is foolish. Now please don’t get me wrong; I am no expert at sharing my emotions. Not even close. But I do sense that there is something lacking in a life that is so closely guarded that you don’t even share your emotions with God or even yourself. Some of the richness of life is stripped away. So once again we see that David has the right idea. Be honest about your emotions and let a few of them show once in a while. Life can be a richer place if you do.