Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / May 1 - 2 Samuel 18

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May 1 - 2 Samuel 18 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here, it is Wednesday, it
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  is the first of May. I literally just had to check
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  a calendar to make sure there wasn't 31 days in
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  that previous month of ours, April. But
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  no, there is not. It is the first of May, it
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  is May Day, which, oh May Day, quite a check in
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  history. May Day used to be a very
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  pagan festival where they would do lots of
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  celebrations to enhance the fertility of people and
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  animals. And apparently if you wash your
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  face with the dew found on the ground this morning you
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  will have beautiful skin. So
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  good luck with that, but these days it's much less
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  about fertility and much more about labour movement
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  and protection of workers, which that's probably a
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  very good thing, making sure that we don't abuse
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  workers. And the Soviet Union many years
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  ago decided this day would be celebrated and bring
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  capitalism down. That didn't go so well, but
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  labour laws protecting workers, they certainly are
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  a very good thing. But all that aside, this is
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  the day that we will not be celebrating fertility or
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  labour movements, but no, this is the day, the
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  finally, that it all catches up with Absalom.
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  After his daring plan to steal
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  the throne from his father, poke his tongue out at the
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  institution and claim it as his own. It
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  all comes apart today. So let us read it together,
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  friends. Let's read together. Second
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  Samuel chapter 18. David
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  now mustered the men who were with him and appointed
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  generals and captains to lead them. He
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  sent the troops out in three groups, placing one
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  group under Joab, one under Joab's brother Abishai, son
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  of Zeruaya, and one under Itai, the man from Gath.
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  The king told his troops, I am
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  going out with you. But his men objected strongly.
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  You must not go, they urged.
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  If we have to turn and run,
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  and even if half of us die, it will make no
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  difference to Absalom's troops. He
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  will be looking only for you. You
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  are worth 10 ,000 of us, and it is better that you
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  stay here in the town and send help if we need it.
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  If you think that's the best
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  plan, I'll do it, the king answered. So
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  we stood alongside the gates of the town as all
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  the troops marched out in groups of hundreds and of
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  thousands. And the king gave this command
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  to Joab, Abishai and Itai, for my sake, deal gently
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  with young Absalom. And all the troops heard the
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  king give this order to his commanders. So
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  the battle began in the forests of Ephraim, and the
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  Israelite troops were beaten back by David's men. There
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  was a great slaughter that day, and 20 ,000 men laid
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  down their lives. The battle raged all across the
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  countryside, and more men died because of the forest
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  than were killed by the sword. During
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  the battle, Absalom happened to come across some of
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  David's men. He tried to escape on his
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  mule, but as he rode beneath the thick branches
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  of a great tree, his hair got caught in the tree.
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  His mule kept going and left
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  him dangling in the air. One
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  of David's men saw what had happened and told Joab,
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  I saw Absalom dangling from a great tree. What,
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  Joab demanded, you saw him there and didn't kill him?
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  I would have rewarded you
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  with ten pieces of silver and a hero's belt. I
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  would not kill the king's son for even a thousand
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  pieces of silver, the men replied to Joab. We
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  all heard the king say to you and Abishai and Itai,
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  for my sake, please, bear young Absalom. And
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  if I had betrayed the king by killing his son, and
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  the king would certainly find out who did it, you
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  yourself would be the first to abandon me. Enough
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  of this nonsense, Joab said. Then
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  he took three daggers and plunged them into Absalom's
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  heart as he dangled, still alive in the great tree.
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  Ten of Joab's young armor
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  -bearers then surrounded Absalom and killed him.
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  Then Joab blew the ram's horn,
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  and his men returned from chasing the army of Israel.
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  They threw Absalom's body into a
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  deep pit in the forest and piled a great heap of
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  stones over it, and all Israel fled to their homes.
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  During his lifetime, Absalom had
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  built a monument to himself in the king's valley, for
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  he said, I have no son to carry on my name. He
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  named the monument after himself, and it is known
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  as Absalom's monument to this day. Then
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  Zadok's son Ahimaz said, Let me run to the king
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  with the good news that the Lord has rescued him
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  from his enemies. No, Joab told him, It wouldn't
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  be good news to the king that his son is dead. You
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  can be my messenger another time, but not today. Then
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  Joab said to a man from Ethiopia, Go and tell the
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  king what you have seen. The
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  man bowed and ran off. But Ahimaz continued to plead
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  with Joab. Whatever happens, please let me go
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  too. Why should you go my son? Joab
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  replied, There will be no reward for your news. Yes,
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  but let me go anyway, he begged. Joab
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  finally said, All right, go ahead. So
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  Ahimaz took the less demanding route by way of
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  the plane, and ran to Mahaname ahead of the
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  Ethiopian. While David was sitting between
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  the inner and outer gates of the town, the watchman
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  climbed to the roof of the gateway by the wall. As
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  he looked, he saw a lone man running toward them. He
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  shouted the news down to David, and the king
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  replied, If he is alone, he has news. As
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  the messenger came closer, the watchman saw another
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  man running toward them. He shouted down, Here comes
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  another one. The king replied, He also will
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  have news. The first man runs like Ahimaz,
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  son of Zadok, the watchman said. He
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  is a good man and comes with good news, the king
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  replied. Then Ahimaz cried out to the
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  king, Everything is all right. He
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  bowed before the king with his face to the ground and
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  said, Praise to the Lord your God who has handed
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  over the rebels, who dared to stand against my Lord
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  the king. What about young Absalom? the
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  king demanded. Is he all right? Ahimaz
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  replied, When Joab told me to come, there was a lot
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  of commotion, but I didn't know what was happening.
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  Wait here, the king told him.
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  So Ahimaz stepped aside. Then
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  the man from Ethiopia arrived and said, I have
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  good news for my Lord the king. Today
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  the Lord has rescued you from all those who rebelled
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  against you. What about young Absalom? the
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  king demanded. Is he all right? And
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  the Ethiopian replied, May all of your enemies, my
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  Lord the king, both now and in the future, share
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  the fate of that young man. The
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  king was overcome with emotion. He
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  went up to the room over the gateway and burst into
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  tears. And as he went, he cried, Oh
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  my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom, if only I had
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  died instead of you. Oh Absalom, my son, my son.
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  Oh Lord, let our hearts be
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  like that of David. He loves and he forgives and
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  he holds close, even those that everyone else believe
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  he should despise. And Lord, that's like you. He
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  certainly is a king after your own heart. Because
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  you love and you draw close and you forgive even
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  those who were so hard to get along with. Oh
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  Lord, soften our hearts. Fill
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  us with your grace. So that those people in our
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  lives who we find it so hard to love, people who
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  test our patience and push our buttons. Lord,
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  I pray that you would soften us and fill our
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  hearts with your love for them. So
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  that through us they can have a taste of your great
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  love for them. You are a good, good and
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  loving God. And we pray that over time you
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  would mold us and shape us to be more like you, more
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  like Jesus who loved us so much that he gave up
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  everything for us. And so it's in his name that
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  we pray all these things. Amen.