Absalom, Absalom
AM Psalm 131, 132, [133]; PM Psalm 134, 135
2 Samuel 19:1-23; Acts 24:1-23; Mark 12:28-34
After David had reigned in Judea for over a decade, forces loyal to his son Absalom surprised him, seized the city of Jerusalem, and declared Absalom king. David fled for his life. But now, in today’s reading of 2 Samuel, the forces loyal to David have defeated and killed Absalom. Having heard the report of his victory and the death of his son, David weeps: “‘My son, Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son!’”
Having stirred us to tears with this famous speech, our author, with his characteristic story-telling skills, shifts our sympathies. Joab, one of David's generals, learns that “the day’s victory turned into mourning for the whole army when they learned that the king was grieving for his son. The soldiers stole into the city like men shamed by flight in battle.” Joab therefore bursts into the king’s residence to defend his soldiers: “Though they saved your life and your sons’ and daughters’ lives and the lives of your wives and concubines, you have put all your servants to shame today by loving those who hate you and hating those who love you. For you have shown today that officers and servants mean nothing to you. I am certain that if Absalom were alive today and all of us dead, you would think that more suitable.’”
Wrenched from his private grief, David returns to his public duties. He proclaims thanks to all the soldiers and servants who were loyal to him and, in the hopes of future peace, goes about forgiving those who were loyal to his treacherous son.
Some biblical scholars argue that the Bible is not just God's wisdom sent down to us but a long dialogue between God and humanity: God has much to say, but we do, too, Lord. Today’s reading might be reminding God, through David, that paragon of earthly kings, how hard it is for any human being to do right. We common folk also know how hard that is when private duties clash with public ones, or family loyalties with loyalty to our friends or to the common good, how our own troubles make us blind to other people’s, how hard it is to listen sympathetically to someone else’s sorrows when we are mourning the loss of our own loved ones....
Or maybe our author is just assuring us that God does know how hard it is for us to act right. Besides, Jesus assures that we have an infinitely more loving Father than Absalom did.
Written by John DuVal
John regrets not having read William Faulkner’s Absolam, Absolam in preparation for this Reflection, but he has put it right at the top of his To-read list. Between cataract surgeries and seeing badly, he has used his mother’s New American Bible because the print is larger.