Stand Your Ground (2 Samuel 17:24-19:8)
One of the more heartbreaking stories in the Bible, particularly from a father’s perspective, is that of David’s one day battle with his son Absalom. Absalom has forced his father out of Jerusalem, across the Jordan River and up into the north-eastern part of Israel, in a city called Mahanaim. It’s there that David will gather troops and supplies, as Absalom is doing in Jerusalem, and await the inevitable confrontation between him and his son. The place that David has chosen as his base camp, demonstrates his military and strategic experience, because where the battle will be fought is in a densely wooded area that favors David’s men, because even though they are fewer in number, they are very experienced and experts in guerilla warfare. It also demonstrates Absalom’s lack of experience and arrogance. The battle is fought with predictable results. It’s a fierce battle where 20,000 men die, but David’s men prevail.
Before David sends out his men out, he instructs his generals, Joab, Ittai and Abishai, to deal gently with Absalom. But as the war is being fought, Absalom is caught by his glorious hair in a low-hanging branch of an oak tree and is left dangling while his mule rides off. Joab’s men discover him and one of the soldiers goes and tells Joab. Joab asks, “Why didn’t you kill him? I would have given you 10 pieces of silver and a warriors belt.” The man replies, “Even if you gave me a 1,000 pieces of silver, I would not have killed him, because when David would have found out, you would pretend you don’t know me.” Joab says, “I’ve had enough of this,” and he goes and kills Absalom.
David hears about Absalom’s death and he begins to grieve as only the father who has lost his son can grieve. He weeps, crying out, “Oh Absalom, Oh Absalom! My son! It would have been better if I had died.” One can just see and hear his father’s heart breaking, so much so, that Joab tells him, “If you don’t stop, you won’t have a man left by sunset.” David is placed in an impossible situation, because there is no good outcome, and he certainly feels like every decision he makes is the wrong one. If he wins the war, it is very unlikely that Absalom will not be killed, which of course he was, and if he loses the war, he will die and his kingdom will be lost. So there’s no win.
We can certainly feel what David is feeling, that everything we do or say is the wrong thing. We can experience this in our families, our businesses, our communities and churches. We certainly experience this in our nation right now, where it just feels like every choice that we have to make is the lesser or greater of two evils. For sure, we feel this with the tragedy of the COVID-19 virus. We are stuck, because if we quarantine, as I believe we should, we do so with the hope that we can flatten out this virus, but we also run the risk of collapsing our economy.
So if you’re feeling some of this, as I know I am, I am comforted and encouraged by Paul’s word to the Ephesians where he writes, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” When the day of crisis comes, as it is now, we clothe ourselves in the power and presence of God and we stand our ground. We stand for that which is true, just and right, knowing that God will protect and preserve his people. He will protect and preserve you.