Bring Them Back: Devotions From Time of Grace MinistryPrøve

THE PERIL: FAILURE David, king of Israel from about 1040-1010 B.C., was a great man, in fact, off the charts in many ways--musician, poet, warrior, builder, and statesman. But he had several equally devastating weaknesses of character--he succumbed to the temptation to assemble a harem of wives and concubines, just like the heathen kings around him, and he appears to have been a terrible father. So strong in battle, he seemed terribly weak in dealing with his sons. A shining man of God, he allowed his sons to pride themselves in ungodly treachery and violence. His son Absalom, for instance, came to despise his father. He assembled a rebel army that succeeded in driving the vacillating king out of Jerusalem. Absalom's sin was great: he had attacked his own father, initiated a bloody civil war within his own country, and raised his hand against the anointed of the Lord. At the climactic battle, however, he was killed. There was no chance for reconciliation with either his father or his God. David's grief was inconsolable: "The king [David] was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: ‘O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you--O Absalom, my son, my son!'" (2 Samuel 18:33). Have you ever had to say, "If only . . ."?