a major realization I had about David & Absalom's life

I was reading 2 Samuel again a few days ago and came to a few realizations that I completely missed out on before.

First, providing a bit of context, Absalom is one of King David’s sons. He grows up to rebel against his father’s rule and tries to take over his throne. Before going into a battle with Absalom’s men, David commands his army to: “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake” (2 Samuel 18:5). The troops find Absalom caught in a tree and fail to listen to King David’s command, killing his son instead. When David learns about this, he mourns and says, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you!” (2 Samuel 18:33). David’s troops had expected him to be overjoyed upon hearing about the victory and to know that his throne was secure. “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” (2 Samuel 19:2).

From this, I realized the stark difference between how David and Saul dealt with the same situation. Saul had once loved David and called him his “son”. But as soon as he realized David’s threatening potential in overtaking his throne, he saw him as an enemy and was in a pursuit to kill him. Contrastingly, Absalom is David’s son by blood. And when Absalom tries to overthrow his father’s rule, David continues to love him. He still tries to protect him– and when he dies, he grieves for him as a father does.

I think that this is a beautiful reflection of God’s love for us. Even though we rebel against Him, He doesn’t see us as His enemies. He sees us as His children, and He mourns for us as a Father does when he sees us hurt by our own sin. He grieves when we are rebellious and when we fail to love Him. He continues to be our Father and immediately welcomes us back when we choose to turn back to Him. David’s love for his son is a pale reflection of God’s unending, unfathomable love for us. And Jesus accomplishes the words that come out of David’s mouth, “If only I had died instead of you”.

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

“And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Corinthians 5:15)

He died for us so that we may live. In this story, it would’ve looked like David stepping into Absalom’s place and sacrificing himself for his son so that he could live. But here are two other amazing things God made me realize:

(1) David would’ve only saved Absalom

(2) Absalom would only be saved in his life on Earth

What I mean by this is that:

(1) When Christ sacrificed Himself, He didn’t do it for one person. He did it for all of us.

(2) And it’s not that we get to live a little longer on Earth because He died for us. We have the chance to live eternally with Him in His kingdom because of His sacrifice.

While David’s love for his son is shown through his words when he mourns– God’s love is shown by what He has actually accomplished for us in the past. He has already proved His unending, sacrificial, selfless love for us.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16)