The Fear of Every Parent
Synopsis 2Sam 18:29-19:6 1/17/2019
Messengers from the battle reported to David. In accordance with Joab’s direction, they told him of the victory in battle. But they also reported that Absalom had been killed.
David mourned his son’s death. And, he wept loudly while crying out in anguish. So, the whole army heard of David’s lament. And despite their remarkable victory, they felt ashamed and discouraged because of David’s disappointment.
Finally, Joab went to David as he wept. And he challenged David to stop the lament. What’s more he encouraged David to acknowledge the great victory and the soldiers who had risked everything to support David and his throne.
Chink in David’s Armor
David’s lament wasn’t merely about the tragic loss of a beloved son. The reality is that David contented himself with Absalom’s exile for three years. And even after his return, Absalom did not meet with David for another two years.
Instead, David’s lament was founded in his own feelings of guilt. He was aware that this tragedy began with his own moral failures with Bathsheba. Amnon’s rape of Tamar, Absalom’s vengeful murder of Absalom, and now Absalom’s death in combat were all the result of weaknesses in David’s character. He felt himself responsible for the wrecked lives of three of his children.
The Fear of Every Parent
It’s scary to be a parent. Especially when you’ve been doing it long enough to see your bad habits showing up in your children’s behavior. It’s a frustrating source of guilt feelings knowing that my children will struggle with iniquities that I have failed to overcome.
Yet I have hope. God has redeemed my life – despite my failings. And He has saved me despite my imperfections. Our God is the God of redemption. And so, my hope isn’t in self-perfecting so that I don’t infect my children with my disease. Though that would be nice. Instead, my hope is in redemption.
More specifically, my hope and prayer is for the redemption of my children. That they might personally know the one true God and His Son, Jesus Christ, for themselves.
“At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it.” Heb 12:11
