“THE HANGED PRINCE”

“THE HANGED PRINCE”
A Story of delayed forgiveness
 
Then Absalom met the servants of David. Absalom rode on a mule. The mule went under the thick boughs of a great terebinth tree, and his head caught in the terebinth; so he was left hanging between heaven and earth.
2 Samuel 18:9 - NKJV

The name Absalom means “Father of Peace”, but the life story of this young prince, son of king David had nothing peaceful in it. The Bible says that Absalom was a rich, noble, beautiful and intelligent kid who lived among the privileges of the palace, but his soul was about to get soured forever.
Absalom’s sister, Tamar, was raped by his half brother, Amnon. King David did not act properly in dealing with all this calamity in his own house, and 2 years of anger and grudge pass by, after which Absalom gets revenge by killing Amnom and escaping from Jerusalem, fleeing from his father, king David. Now, living in the city of his grandfather - Geshur, 3 more years pass by, making 5 years of resentment, unforgiveness and inability to solve the situation. After that, Absalom is called to come back and live in Jerusalem, but is not allowed to see his father. 2 more years are gone. Up to here, we have 7 years since the hostility began.
Now, already in Jerusalem, dissatisfied for not being able to talk to his own father, Absalom’s feelings change into hatred against his father, and it takes 4 more years for Absalom to “steal the people’s heart”, and after organizing a revolt, he is able to seize the Kingdom from his father David, who has to flee in humiliation in the middle of the night to save his own life.
At this point, 11 years have passed: 11 years of grievance, resentfulness, unforgiveness and of wasting every opportunity to make things right. But the worst was yet to come: after several diplomatic and military plots and endeavors, Absalom is forced to flee from his father’s army, and as we see in the verse chosen today, he finds himself hanging on a tree, where Joab, his father’s general, kills him. Besides that, more than 20 thousand lives are lost in battle.
This is a tragic and sad end of what could have been a tale of love, forgiveness and complicity between father and son.
David desperately weeps after his son’s horrific death, but it was too late. He had 11 years to do something, but the business of the Kingdom, the political affairs, and all the wars to conquer the world made him lose his more precious kingdom: his family.
This story sometimes looks like one of those famous mournful plays coming from the pen of Shakespeare and his wonderful imagination, but that is not the case, it’s bloody, it’s real, it’s tragic, and could have been avoided
Do you hold grudges against someone? Is there unforgiveness and unresolved issues in your life? Are there situations to be mended and people to talk to? If so, don’t let even one more day go by without rebuilding that relationship, because if you don’t, it might be too late.
 
Wishing many blessings to you and your family!
Pastor Joshua