A Fallen Father

David is King.
David is a leader.
David is a father.
Things are not going his way.

1. David has a son whose name is Absalom.
2. Absalom has a sister named Tamar, a half brother
     named Annon.
3. Annon is crazy in love with Tamar; he violates her.
4. Absalom murders Annon
5. Absalom flees from his father
6. "David's heart goes out to his son," but the father 
     does not call Abosalom back. Three years pass.
7. Finally, the son comes home, but, the father does not
      call for Absalom for two more years.
8. Absalom draws the people to himself; away from
     the king. He makes a move for the throne.
9. When David hears the message of the betrayal,
     he flees from Jerusalem, the city of peace,--weeping.
10 Absalom, the son, is stabbed and dies as he hangs
      from a branch by his hair.
11 David--
"O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would
that I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son,
my son."  (2 Samuel 13-18)

David chooses to ignore his son. He refuses to be
reconciled. The years of anger and guilt lead to
bitterness and betrayal, and, finally to death. David
is king; he is also a father. His choice of not letting
his son speak to him is like that of a ping pong ball
in a room full of mousetraps. If you read the whole
story you will find that so many people are affected.

The good news is that God calls David "a man
after my own heart." He does not withdraw this
term of endearment when David blows it. But,
oh, how David and others suffer because he did
not choose life!