Though David had become undisputed King of all God’s people, he still faced personal and public challenges. We shouldn’t think that one day everything will function perfectly as we wish. God has not made us to be independent but rather dependent upon Him and one another. David faced challenges until the end of his reign.
Joab son of Zeruiah knew that the king’s heart longed for Absalom. 2 So Joab sent someone to Tekoa and had a wise woman brought from there. He said to her, ‘Pretend you are in mourning. Dress in mourning clothes, and don’t use any cosmetic lotions. Act like a woman who has spent many days grieving for the dead. 3 Then go to the king and speak these words to him.’ And Joab put the words in her mouth. 2 Samuel 14
Joab knew the King longed for his son Absalom. He may have been a favourite, or maybe David was was regretting that two of his sons were no longer with him, we don’t know. Once again we see someone close to the seat of power plotting to influence the situation around the leader. Today people often pay lobbyists a lot of money to promote their cases to those with influence in government, to get their own way.
Joab had this unnamed woman stand before the King and present a fictitious case about her two sons. One son had killed the other and some people wanted to take the life of the remaining son, ‘They would put out the only burning coal I have left’. 2 Samuel 7 David told her that he would see that no one harmed the surviving son. But then she spoke further, about the King’s own situation;
13 The woman said, ‘Why then have you devised a thing like this against the people of God? When the king says this, does he not convict himself, for the king has not brought back his banished son?
She said that David had granted her son mercy, but hadn’t done anything to help his own son, Absalom. A powerful verse follows in the conversation;
14 Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. BUT GOD DOES NOT TAKE AWAY LIFE; INSTEAD, HE DEVISES WAYS SO THAT A BANISHED PERSON DOES NOT REMAIN ESTRANGED FROM HIM.
God will do everything He can to bring even the most wayward people back into relationship with Him – He is not a vengeful tyrant. Think about the thief on the cross with Jesus, or the Parable of the Prodigal Son. God devises ways to bring people back to Himself, not always the way with His Church.
David realised that the whole situation had been contrived by Joab and eventually agreed that his son Absalom could return to live in Jerusalem after three years in exile.
21 The king said to Joab, ‘Very well, I will do it. Go, bring back the young man Absalom.’
24 But the king said, ‘He must go to his own house; he must not see my face.’ So Absalom went to his own house and did not see the face of the king.
It would be a further two years before Absalom would be welcomed into his father, the King’s presence. Disputes, even within families, or between close friends can take a long time to be settled.
God is still looking for ways today to draw people back to and closer to Himself. Remember the price Jesus paid for everyone to have relationship with God – the reconciliation after man’s sell out in Eden.
God bless and keep you today.