Page 113 - Foundations

that the name of Yahweh will be glorified once again.

Perhaps in David’s reaction to the transgression of Absalom we may gain some insight into the heart
of God. David wept grievously when it was told to him that his son had been slain. David knew that
his son was a rebel. He knew his son had defiled his wives openly. David knew that Absalom had
slandered his reputation and spoken falsely to others. Nevertheless, David experienced deep grief at
the death of his son.

The prophet Ezekiel, who has given us so much information about this fallen cherub who rules over
this world, has also recorded for us the following words of God.

Ezekiel 33:11
“Say to them, ‘As I live!'’declares Yahweh God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but
rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why
then will you die?’”

Surely David manifested the heart of God when it was reported to him that King Saul, Saul’s sons,
and his servants, were slain on Mount Gilboa. Although Saul was an oppressor of the people, a
persecutor of the righteous, a man given to great selfishness and jealousy; although Yahweh had
pronounced judgment upon him, the words of the prophet Ezekiel are true. Yahweh took no pleasure
in Saul’s death. It was a righteous thing for David to lament the fall of this once great king.

II Samuel 1:17-27
Then David chanted with this lament over Saul and Jonathan his son, and he told them to teach the
sons of Judah the song of the bow; behold, it is written in the book of Jashar. "Your beauty, O Israel,
is slain on your high places! How have the mighty fallen! Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the
streets of Ashkelon; Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the
uncircumcised exult. O mountains of Gilboa, let not dew or rain be on you, nor fields of offerings;
For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. From the
blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, and the sword
of Saul did not return empty. Saul and Jonathan, beloved and pleasant in their life, and in their death
they were not parted; They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. O daughters of
Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold on your
apparel. How have the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan is slain on your high places.
I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; You have been very pleasant to me. Your love to me
was more wonderful than the love of women. How have the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war
perished!"

If you have ever known a son or a daughter who once walked in righteousness, a child whose life was
pleasant to you, yet this child turned aside to wickedness and great evil, you will realize that there is
no pleasure in seeing judgment executed upon them. You may bear long with them, hoping that they
will repent. They may be beaten with many stripes in hope that they will turn away from evil. When
all attempts at reconciliation have been exhausted, and nothing remains but to hand the child over to
death, there can be only grief in the heart of the parent. Bitterly did David weep for Absalom.