Lord whether You crush me or You raise me up it’s all for your purpose. Whether I fall or I stand You are the One who will be glorified and You are the One who will bring about good out of the appearance of evil. You are amazing, from the barren You bring forth a bountiful harvest and in the waste land your spring of Living Water flows. For I know if I am laid low I will once again stand and if You place my feet on a mountain top You will give me the courage to face my enemy in the valley. Where my path leads in this life matters not but only that I am following You, for one day I know You will call me home and though I pray that day is soon I know You have a work that is to be done through me, here and now and therefore I will wait. Lord, help me not to miss it because of concern for my own comfort. So if You should lead me to the valley I will go and if I am to climb the mountain then I say, “let’s go!” Whatever your purpose is bring it to pass so that I may live this life with no regrets and help me to be wise so I don’t unwillingly bring these things upon myself. Lead me Lord so that I may know You better and cause me to be open about what You have done in my life with others.
(Psalms 3:1-8 TNIV) A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom. LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, "God will not deliver him." But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the one who lifts my head high. I call out to the LORD, and he answers me from his holy mountain. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side. Arise, LORD! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.
(2 Samuel 18) Absalom ended up falling before king David but not at David’s hands and stranger yet was the way he fell. For Absalom was a son filled with pride and it was by a symbol of his pride that stopped him in his tracks – his hair! His hair became tangled in tree branches as he was riding his mule during the battle which left him hanging at the mercy of his father’s army and though king David told his men to protect Absalom for his sake some of David’s men did not have the same restraints as the king did for his son. Absalom died that day at the hands of those he threatened and pride and arrogance were the things that bound him, holding him before his enemy depending on their mercy even though he intended to destroy them and exalt himself over them.
In turn when king David found out about his son’s death David cried aloud for his son and wished it was he who died instead. Even though the king had to run from his son it tore him apart to learn that Absalom had been killed in battle. To be betrayed and pursued by those whom you love is a difficult thing indeed, when Jesus died it was not the nails or the soldiers or the Jewish leaders that held him on the cross that day but his heart for his people. Even though Jesus was left alone He was filled with compassion as we see Him having mercy on the dying thief in their last moments and asking His Father to forgive those who came to watch Him die, Jesus died that day not from the physical abuse but of a broken heart.
