Be Gentle

 DEVOTION

2^ND SAMUEL

BE GENTLE

2 Sam 18:1-17

18:1 David mustered the men who were with him and appointed over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 David sent the troops out — a third under the command of Joab, a third under Joab's brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. The king told the troops, "I myself will surely march out with you." 3 But the men said, "You must not go out; if we are forced to flee, they won't care about us. Even if half of us die, they won't care; but you are worth ten thousand of us. It would be better now for you to give us support from the city." 4 The king answered, "I will do whatever seems best to you." So the king stood beside the gate while all the men marched out in units of hundreds and of thousands. 5 The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, "Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake." And all the troops heard the king giving orders concerning Absalom to each of the commanders. 6 The army marched into the field to fight Israel, and the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. 7 There the army of Israel was defeated by David's men, and the casualties that day were great — twenty thousand men. 8 The battle spread out over the whole countryside, and the forest claimed more lives that day than the sword. 9 Now Absalom happened to meet David's men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom's head got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept on going. 10 When one of the men saw this, he told Joab, "I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree." 11 Joab said to the man who had told him this, "What! You saw him? Why didn't you strike him to the ground right there? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels of silver and a warrior's belt." 2 But the man replied, "Even if a thousand shekels were weighed out into my hands, I would not lift my hand against the king's son. In our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, 'Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.' 13 And if I had put my life in jeopardy-and nothing is hidden from the king — you would have kept your distance from me." 14 Joab said, "I'm not going to wait like this for you." So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom's heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. 15 And ten of Joab's armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him and killed him. 16 Then Joab sounded the trumpet, and the troops stopped pursuing Israel, for Joab halted them. 17 They took Absalom, threw him into a big pit in the forest and piled up a large heap of rocks over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled to their homes.

NIV

The story of Absalom has come to a close, as did his life. It is not good that he tried to depose his own father in an attempt to become the king of Israel. He did this without being anointed by God, or, as in the case of David, his father, who was anointed by the prophet Samuel under the divine direction of God. Interestingly, God’s hand was at work, causing Absalom to get stuck in a tree as he rode on his mule. Plus, as strange as it sounds, he was caught by his head. What that looked like, we cannot envision, but then God can do anything, so there he was hanging by his head. We are not told is he was struggling to free himself, or that he was unconscious and just hanging by his head. But when Joab and his men found him, he was completely at their mercy. Joab was the one who struck Absalom, as Joab was a servant of David, loyal to his king. Joab did not want David to engage in the battle, for he knew that the army under Abalsom’s command would be looking to kill David at the first opportunity. But Joab’s concern for his king kept David safe, while he and his men crushed the army of Israel. It is also interesting that David wanted his men to go easy on his son Absalom. This may be our lesson. There are forces in this world that would want to do harm to us, and although God has supplied us with his armor so we can take our stand, we should not stand our ground filled with hatred, but compassion for those who are against us. This is not to say, we should be defeated by them, but we should overcome those forces of evil, who are represented by people who oppose our faith, speak out, and stand for the matters of life that are rebellious toward the things of God. Absalom was rebellious against the anointed king of Israel, which meant he was opposed to the will of God, and he met his end and was thrown into a pit. Is that not the end of all who opposed God? Will those who fight against the Lord, and those who are his faithful ones, not find their end as being thrown into the pit of burning sulfur? We should take our lesson from David, and as we stand our ground, we need to do it with truth, but also with grace. Maybe we might be instrumental, along with the hand of God, and be gentle with them, help them to see the truth, and be saved.