Slices
Prepare
Lay before the Lord anything in your or your family’s life that is preoccupying you and perhaps weighing heavily. Remember, ‘my help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth’ (Psalm 121:2).
Bible passage
David mourns
19 Now Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, ‘Let me run and take the news to the king that the Lord has vindicated him by delivering him from the hand of his enemies.’
20 ‘You are not the one to take the news today,’ Joab told him. ‘You may take the news another time, but you must not do so today, because the king’s son is dead.’
21 Then Joab said to a Cushite, ‘Go, tell the king what you have seen.’ The Cushite bowed down before Joab and ran off.
2 Samuel 18:31-33
31 Then the Cushite arrived and said, ‘My lord the king, hear the good news! The Lord has vindicated you today by delivering you from the hand of all who rose up against you.’
32 The king asked the Cushite, ‘Is the young man Absalom safe?’
The Cushite replied, ‘May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to harm you be like that young man.’
33 The king 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 19:1-8
19 Joab was told, ‘The king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.’ 2 And for the whole army the victory that day was turned into mourning, because on that day the troops heard it said, ‘The king is grieving for his son.’ 3 The men stole into the city that day as men steal in who are ashamed when they flee from battle. 4 The king covered his face and cried aloud, ‘O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!’
5 Then Joab went into the house to the king and said, ‘Today you have humiliated all your men, who have just saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters and the lives of your wives and concubines. 6 You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. You have made it clear today that the commanders and their men mean nothing to you. I see that you would be pleased if Absalom were alive today and all of us were dead. 7 Now go out and encourage your men. I swear by the Lord that if you don’t go out, not a man will be left with you by nightfall. This will be worse for you than all the calamities that have come on you from your youth till now.’
8 So the king got up and took his seat in the gateway. When the men were told, ‘The king is sitting in the gateway,’ they all came before him.
Meanwhile, the Israelites had fled to their homes.
Explore
Cushite messenger: ‘You’re free of threat!’ David: ‘But what about Absalom?’ Messenger: ‘Erm…’ Result? Even though Absalom has been trying to kill him (17:12), David is naturally distraught at the loss of his son (18:33). Another bitter moment in David’s story. In fact he gets so caught up in his own grief that he neglects his royal, God‑given duties… That is, until, shrewdly, Joab jolts him out of it (19:5–7). Then suddenly he’s back being the king God anointed him to be (19:8). We can’t just abandon who God has made us and what he has given us to do.
In God’s story, there’s no ‘slumber nor sleep’ for him (Psalm 121:4), nor the relinquishing of his responsibilities as the ‘Lord your God’ (2 Samuel 18:28). ‘If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself’ (2 Timothy 2:13) – he is our good and faithful God, always. As we discover in Psalm 89:3,4, there’s a lot of ‘forever-ness’, including around King David, that God has to work on!
Respond
Tell God your own story of times when you were so in need yourself that you almost felt like giving up on faith. Be thankful that he never fails or forgets – he ‘will watch over your coming and going both now and for evermore’ (Psalm 121:8).
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Isaiah 57,58; Hebrews 11
Pray for Scripture Union
Richard Godden, Chair of the SU board of trustees, asks us to pray that all in the wider SU movement will have the wisdom and courage they need to ensure that the 95 hear the gospel. He asks this especially for Local Mission Partners as they encounter children and young people with no understanding of or interest in Christian things.
