2 Samuel 18; 19:1-4
DAVID and his men lived in a city in the wilderness. The city had walls and gates.
Absalom soon heard where his father David was, and he came after him with a great army. Absalom crossed over the river Jordan, and desired his men to set up their tents near the city where David was.
Then David saw that his wicked son meant to fight against him. So David one morning desired his soldiers to go out of the city. David was going with them; but they begged him not to come, lest he should be killed in the battle. These people loved him very much. Then the king said, 'I will do as you think best.' David did not wish to go to this battle, for he did not like to fight against Absalom.
David told the soldiers before they went to battle not to hurt Absalom: for David still loved his wicked son.
Absalom and his soldiers came out to fight against David's men. They fought in a wood. This was not a good place for fighting, for a great many people were knocked against the trees, and bruised, and killed.
Who do you think conquered? David's men, because God helped them; and Absalom's men tried to run away, and a great many of them were killed by the swords of David's men, and still more were killed by the trees.
Now you shall hear what became of Absalom.
He rode upon a mule (which is a beast very much like a horse), and as he was riding he passed under a great oak-tree, and his beautiful long hair was caught in the boughs: and the mule ran away and left him hanging by his head in the tree, with his feet lifted up from the earth. You remember how proud he was of his hair. God let that very hair be fastened to the tree. We should pray to God not to let us be proud of anything we have.
One of David's soldiers saw him, and went to the captain Joab, and said, 'Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.'
Then Joab said, 'And why did you not kill him? If you had I would have given you a great deal of silver, and some clothes.'
But the man answered, 'If you would have given me a thousand pieces of silver, I would not have hurt Absalom, for I heard the king ask that, no one should hurt him.'
Then Joab went very quickly to the oak-tree, and he found Absalom still hanging there. So he took three darts, and thrust them through Absalom's heart; and ten young men, that were with Joab, hurt him also with swords, or darts, and killed him.
How frightened Absalom must have felt when he was hanging in the oak! I wonder whether he prayed to God to forgive him? Perhaps he did not wish to pray; for he did not love God. Perhaps he only felt frightened lest anyone should kill him, and did not fear the anger of God. The darts must have hurt his body very much, and must have covered him with blood. Did he not well deserve to feel pain? What pain had he made his father feel in his mind?
Joab took his body down from the tree and cast it into a great pit in the wood, and laid a great heap of stones on the top.
When Absalom was dead, Joab blew a trumpet to call back his soldiers from running after Absalom's soldiers: for now Absalom was dead they would leave off fighting. Absalom's soldiers went back to their tents, and Joab took his soldiers back to the city where David was.
But before Joab and his men went back, two men ran very fast to tell David what had happened.
How much David longed to know whether Absalom was dead! David wished his men to conquer, and yet he did not wish Absalom to be killed.
David sat near the gate inside the city where he was. A man stood upon the top of the wall near the gate, to watch to see whether any person was coming into the city. Soon the watchman saw a man running, and he cried out loud, 'I see a man running alone.' Then said David, 'No doubt he brings some message.' Soon afterward the watchman cried out, 'I see another man running alone.' Then David said, 'He also brings a message.'
Soon the first man who was running came up, and cried out, 'All is well.'
He said all was well, because David's men had conquered. Then the man fell down to the ground upon his face before the king, and he thanked God for having let David's men conquer. Then the king said, 'Is the young man Absalom safe?' The messenger knew that Absalom was dead, but he did not like to grieve David, by telling him this sad news all at once; so he said, 'There was a great deal of noise and confusion, when Joab sent me here.' The man did not tell David what the noise was about.
Soon the other man came running up to David, and he said, 'God has punished the wicked people who fought against the king.'
Then the king said, 'Is the young man Absalom safe?'
And the messenger answered, 'May all people who fight against the king be as Absalom now is!' The king knew that the man meant that Absalom was dead. How very unhappy the king was when he heard this! He went into a room that was near the gate, and he wept as he went up, and he said, `O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!'
When David's soldiers were coming back into the city, they heard how much the king was grieved for Absalom, and they felt unhappy, too, because they loved the king. The king did not come out to meet them, and to thank them for having fought for him, as he would have done if Absalom had not been killed; but he remained by himself, and he covered his face, and cried, 'O my son Absalom, my son, my son!'
I do not wonder that David was unhappy about Absalom. Could David hope that he was gone to heaven, and that he should see him again one day? O, it is dreadful to lose a wicked child! God cut off Absalom in the midst of his wickedness. God is very angry with children who behave badly to their parents.
Jonathan died while he was young, but he was good; and he went to heaven. I hope, my dear children, that none of you will die in wickedness, as Absalom did. Pray now, my darlings, to God, to make you love and trust Him, and I know that He will hear you. Why will He hear you? Because Jesus died for you.
Young Absalom's beautiful hair
Is caught in the boughs of a tree:
The prince is suspended in air,
And struggles in vain to get free.
Three arrows are stuck through his heart;
He dies in his youth's freshest bloom.
O that all from his sins might depart
Who hear of young Absalom's doom!
The beauty that made him so vain,
Shall be hid in a desolate pit,
And none shall e'er praise him again;
On a throne he never shall sit.
I wonder not David should weep
O'er a son in his sins snatched away;
O well might his anguish be deep,
As he thought of the great judgment day.
Child
Dear Savior, Thou seest my heart
With pride and with vanity fill'd!
In mercy Thy Spirit impart,
And make me a dutiful child.
Questions on Lesson 17
In what sort of a place did David's soldiers fight against Absalom and his soldiers?
How was Absalom's hair entangled?
Why did not the first man who saw Absalom in the tree kill him?
How was he killed at last?
Why did Joab blow a trumpet after Absalom was dead?
Where was David sitting during the battle?
Why would not the first messenger tell David that Absalom was dead?
What did the second messenger say?
Why was the king so very unhappy that Absalom was dead?
How does God often punish children who behave ill to their parents?