It's Complicated (S2): WK 5 - THU
2 Samuel 13:23-34a
23 Two years later, when Absalom’s sheep were being sheared at Baal-hazor
near Ephraim, Absalom invited all the king’s sons to come to a feast.
24 He went to the king and said, “My sheep-shearers are now at work. Would the king
and his servants please come to celebrate the occasion with me?”
25 The king replied, “No, my son. If we all came, we would be too much of a burden
on you.” Absalom pressed him, but the king would not come, though he gave
Absalom his blessing.
26 “Well, then,” Absalom said, “if you can’t come, how about sending my brother Amnon
with us?” “Why Amnon?” the king asked.
27 But Absalom kept on pressing the king until he finally agreed to let all his sons attend,
including Amnon. So Absalom prepared a feast fit for a king.
28 Absalom told his men, “Wait until Amnon gets drunk; then at my signal, kill him! Don’t
be afraid. I’m the one who has given the command. Take courage and do it!”
29 So at Absalom’s signal they murdered Amnon. Then the other sons of the king
jumped on their mules and fled.
30 As they were on the way back to Jerusalem, this report reached David: “Absalom
has killed all the king’s sons; not one is left alive!”
31 The king got up, tore his robe, and threw himself on the ground. His advisers also
tore their clothes in horror and sorrow.
32 But just then Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimea, arrived and said, “No, don’t
believe that all the king’s sons have been killed! It was only Amnon! Absalom has
been plotting this ever since Amnon raped his sister Tamar.
33 No, my lord the king, your sons aren’t all dead! It was only Amnon.”
34 Meanwhile Absalom escaped.
As we see in this story, Absalom let his hatred for Amnon grow for two years. Two years of playing the scene over and over again in his head. Two years of seeing the woman Tamar became, after Amnon’s act.
Hatred is an awful thing. To quote Eddie Jacku again, someone who faced hatred in its extreme form through the Nazis, said “Hate is the beginning of a disease, like cancer. It may kill your enemy, but it will destroy you in the process.” (The Happiest Man On Earth) He also said, “Anger leads to fear. Fear leads to hate. Hate leads to death.”
I am writing to you on a day where a well-known conservative political activist, 31 years old, was shot and killed at a University campus during a gathering. This is the world we are living in now. We can’t disagree anymore. We have so much anger and hatred in us that we’d rather kill one another, than sit down at a table and try to listen to one another, learn from one another, and even love one another. What was that famous line we used to say in school each morning, “United we stand. Divided we fall”? Well how are we doing?
Of course, this series is about the life of David and how complicated it was. How it wasn’t just a bed of roses since he was often described as a man after God’s own heart. One of the most well-known, well-celebrated figures in all of Scripture had some very dark, very horrible parts of his story.
And so here, he not only had a daughter raped by a son, but now he’s also lost his two sons; one to violence, and one to hatred.
As a father, I can’t imagine what this must have done to David. I don’t know about you, but there are times in my life when I just don’t have the words to pray, and even if I could speak, I wouldn’t know what to say. I have often cried out the last line of a prayer given by King Jehoshaphat when he and the Israelites were surrounded by enemy armies…
“For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to
do, but our eyes are on you.”
(2 Chronicles 20:12b, NIV)
I don’t know what you’ve had to endure in this life, or what you may have to in the future, but I do know this, God is with you. He’s promised to never leave us or forsake us. He didn’t promise us easy, but He did promise that He’d be with us every step of the way. So maybe try this prayer the next time you’re overwhelmed, beyond crushed, or at your wits end… “Lord, I don’t know what to do, but my eyes are on you.”
1. Have you ever let anger over something consume you? If so, are you still dealing with
that anger or have you been able to work through it and find healing?
2. When you run out of words to pray, what do you do?
3. If you’re a parent, take a moment just to pray over your children for wherever they
are, whatever they’re facing, whatever they need.
23 Two years later, when Absalom’s sheep were being sheared at Baal-hazor
near Ephraim, Absalom invited all the king’s sons to come to a feast.
24 He went to the king and said, “My sheep-shearers are now at work. Would the king
and his servants please come to celebrate the occasion with me?”
25 The king replied, “No, my son. If we all came, we would be too much of a burden
on you.” Absalom pressed him, but the king would not come, though he gave
Absalom his blessing.
26 “Well, then,” Absalom said, “if you can’t come, how about sending my brother Amnon
with us?” “Why Amnon?” the king asked.
27 But Absalom kept on pressing the king until he finally agreed to let all his sons attend,
including Amnon. So Absalom prepared a feast fit for a king.
28 Absalom told his men, “Wait until Amnon gets drunk; then at my signal, kill him! Don’t
be afraid. I’m the one who has given the command. Take courage and do it!”
29 So at Absalom’s signal they murdered Amnon. Then the other sons of the king
jumped on their mules and fled.
30 As they were on the way back to Jerusalem, this report reached David: “Absalom
has killed all the king’s sons; not one is left alive!”
31 The king got up, tore his robe, and threw himself on the ground. His advisers also
tore their clothes in horror and sorrow.
32 But just then Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimea, arrived and said, “No, don’t
believe that all the king’s sons have been killed! It was only Amnon! Absalom has
been plotting this ever since Amnon raped his sister Tamar.
33 No, my lord the king, your sons aren’t all dead! It was only Amnon.”
34 Meanwhile Absalom escaped.
As we see in this story, Absalom let his hatred for Amnon grow for two years. Two years of playing the scene over and over again in his head. Two years of seeing the woman Tamar became, after Amnon’s act.
Hatred is an awful thing. To quote Eddie Jacku again, someone who faced hatred in its extreme form through the Nazis, said “Hate is the beginning of a disease, like cancer. It may kill your enemy, but it will destroy you in the process.” (The Happiest Man On Earth) He also said, “Anger leads to fear. Fear leads to hate. Hate leads to death.”
I am writing to you on a day where a well-known conservative political activist, 31 years old, was shot and killed at a University campus during a gathering. This is the world we are living in now. We can’t disagree anymore. We have so much anger and hatred in us that we’d rather kill one another, than sit down at a table and try to listen to one another, learn from one another, and even love one another. What was that famous line we used to say in school each morning, “United we stand. Divided we fall”? Well how are we doing?
Of course, this series is about the life of David and how complicated it was. How it wasn’t just a bed of roses since he was often described as a man after God’s own heart. One of the most well-known, well-celebrated figures in all of Scripture had some very dark, very horrible parts of his story.
And so here, he not only had a daughter raped by a son, but now he’s also lost his two sons; one to violence, and one to hatred.
As a father, I can’t imagine what this must have done to David. I don’t know about you, but there are times in my life when I just don’t have the words to pray, and even if I could speak, I wouldn’t know what to say. I have often cried out the last line of a prayer given by King Jehoshaphat when he and the Israelites were surrounded by enemy armies…
“For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to
do, but our eyes are on you.”
(2 Chronicles 20:12b, NIV)
I don’t know what you’ve had to endure in this life, or what you may have to in the future, but I do know this, God is with you. He’s promised to never leave us or forsake us. He didn’t promise us easy, but He did promise that He’d be with us every step of the way. So maybe try this prayer the next time you’re overwhelmed, beyond crushed, or at your wits end… “Lord, I don’t know what to do, but my eyes are on you.”
1. Have you ever let anger over something consume you? If so, are you still dealing with
that anger or have you been able to work through it and find healing?
2. When you run out of words to pray, what do you do?
3. If you’re a parent, take a moment just to pray over your children for wherever they
are, whatever they’re facing, whatever they need.
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