2 Samuel 18:18-19:8 – Taking Another’s Place
David’s unbounded grief for Absalom is also because David knows that, ultimately, Absalom’s death is his fault. God had told him – chapter 12 verse 10 – ‘because you have despised me, the sword will not depart from your house forever’. And since then, David’s infant son died, his son Amnon had been murdered, and now Absalom has perished. David knows that ultimately it’s his own sin that has unleashed the sword on his household.
David says here, at the end of chapter 18, ‘Would that I had died instead of you’. But David can’t die for Absalom. He can’t take away Absalom’s guilt – because he’s guilty himself. He can’t swap places with him – because it would be swapping one guilty man for another. Neither can David atone for Absalom’s sin. David, in the words of his own men in chapter 18 verse 3, is worth ten thousand of them. But for someone to be able to bear the punishment that Absalom deserved, he would have to be worth more than that. He would have to be God himself. Only someone who was himself God could bear the infinite wrath of God that Absalom deserved. So rebels like Absalom need someone who is both innocent – and who is no mere man. And that’s what we have in Jesus! What David wanted to do, but couldn’t – Jesus did! David wanted to die in place of Absalom because he was his son, even though he was acting as an enemy. Jesus died for his enemies to make them sons.
This is a sad section in many ways. Yet we can’t get away from the cross. Whether in Absalom hanging there under God’s curse – pointing forward to someone else who would do the same thing, but do it in our place. Or whether it’s David wanting to die for his rebellious son – but being unable to. Even how the story ends points us to the cross. This civil war ends in a day of great sorrow – and yet it is a day of good news. Just like the day Jesus died was a day of great sorrow, but ultimately it was a day of good news. And if our faith is in the king’s son who died in our place that day, then whatever challenges we may face, the words of verse 28 are true: ‘All is well’.
Question
- How does this passage point us forward to Christ?
Prayer Points
- Pray for the preaching and hearing of God’s Word tomorrow.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.