From the very beginning David seems to have blind eyes to the doings of his son Absalom. David let Absalom get away with murder,literally. Then for 4 years David must have ignored the intel about what Absalom was up to. Personally I find it hard to believe that David, who has such a good pulse on his people, could miss 4-years of subversive activity like that of Absalom.
The word that keeps coming to my mind is ‘favorite.’ My sense is that Absalom was David’s favorite and David kept looking the other way with his son’s activities.
Parenting is hard, vigilant work. Even when we trust our children, we have to remain vigilant as we raise them, helping guide them through the difficult channels which lead to mature adulthood.
A connecting thought is that David had become lax in his governance. If in fact he missed all that Absalom was doing ‘under his nose’, then David was missing the mark as king. How or why the text is silent…
As I add up these thoughts I am reminded we all face many aspects to our lives and that we have to stay on top of all of them. This is an overwhelming thought. How can we do this except by the grace of God and the leading and help of God’s Holy Spirit? I don’t believe I can, anyway.
Being honest with God about life and pressures and distractions and problems and blind spots and… it is all part of our walk with the Lord.
O, God, this reading causes me to realize that it is so easy for me to put aspects and areas of my life on ‘auto-pilot.’ I can avoid paying attention to those things that I should or I must. This can happen with work or home responsibilities, as well as any other area of responsibility that I carry.
All the more, Jesus, I realize that I cannot live life without Your help, Your guidance, Your love or Your grace. I surrender my life to You. I need You and I have to stop pretending that I can do life alone…
Thanks for this reminder today… I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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