The Edge of the Sword
“Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house…” (2 Samuel 12:10). Those are the kind of words that will keep you awake every night. How will they be fulfilled? Who all will have to pay for my sins? How will it begin and when will it end?
I’m sure those were among the many questions that David wrestled with after those words were spoken to him by the prophet Nathan following his affair with Bathsheba and the murder by abandonment on the battle field of her faithful husband, Uriah. Some specifics were given such as the death of the child that had been conceived, along with the pronouncement that his own household would rise up against him. While David’s actions had been in secret, the consequences would be done before all of Israel (12:11-12).
In the following chapters, David’s son Amnon (whose mother was Ahinoam) would rape his own half-sister Tamar (daughter of Maacah). He had pretended to be sick in order to have her alone and when she rejected his request to sleep with him, he did the unthinkable. The text says that while he was love-sick over her before, after she rejected him and he raped her, his hatred of her was much stronger than the feelings of lust he ever had previously (13:14-15).
David was angry when he heard of it, but appears to do very little, if anything, to address it (13:21). It takes two years for Absalom to avenge his sister’s honor and exact revenge on his half-brother, but when he does it is brutal. He calls all the kings sons in to meet and then murders Amnon in front of them. Absalom flees and stays gone three years in an apparent banishment from the kingdom (13:22-39). When he is finally brought back to Jerusalem he is only able to see the king’s face after he has Joab’s fields set on fire to get his attention (14:25-32).
While David and Absalom’s reunion seems to be a sweet meeting of love and forgiveness (14:33), it would seem that Absalom was simply sharpening the sword while checking David’s armor for weakness. In chapter 15 the kingdom would fall into Absalom’s hands. Once he has access to military power (15:1) and the gates of the city with which he charms the people (15:2-6) he is able to overthrow his father without a fight (2 Samuel 15:7-13). He was a schemer and David wasn’t very good at standing up to his family.
It is hard to accept that David simply flees the city when he hears that Absalom has won over the hearts of the people. David had defeated giants. He had successfully eluded Saul. He had God on his side in all those endeavors and you would think that he would have leaned heavily on the Lord in this moment. But maybe that’s just it. Maybe he sees this as part of the punishment and he just accepts the next jab of the sword. The truth is that in all these circumstances God had never left him. Even when consequences make life difficult, God is always at work. Beauty from ashes. A struggle in the dark that leads to joy in the morning.
Chapters 15-17 are full of names that probably don’t mean much to us when we read them but they meant everything to David. They were comrades. They were supporters. Some were young and some were old. Some were men and others were women. They had come from all different countries and tribes but they were united in one thing: to strengthen David.
The sword of consequence wasn’t done just yet, but even in the midst of the pain the Lord sent people to David for comfort. God didn’t have to, but He did. That is the kind of God we serve. He doesn’t abandon us when struggles set in — he runs to us. You may be dealing with repercussions of past failures or sins, but I have little doubt that God is sending you help through friends and neighbors. Don’t make another mistake by being unwilling to let them help.
Ben