April 5 - 2 Samuel 17-19

Yesterday we met Absalom, a son of David.  He seemed to have this idea that he wanted to have some followers of his own and told some people he was their king.  David went off to find him and sent his friend Hushai to do a little spying (Hushai pretended to be a follower of Absalom).  Another man named Ahithophel told Absalom he should send people out to attach David and his people while they were tired from their journey.  Absalom asked Hushai his advice, to which he offered a new plan.  Hushai then sent some messengers to warn David.  When Ahithophel heard that Absalom didn't follow his advice, he ended up hanging himself. 
Absalom headed out to follow through with Hushai's plan of attacking David and his people.  David, in turn, had formulated his own plan, but told many of the men, including Joab, to be gentle with Absalom.  When they met up with Absalom, he happened to be hanging from a tree that he had gotten stuck in.  When Joab learned this, he put three javelin through his heart and killed Absalom.  When David learned of this, he mourned, wishing he had died instead.
Joab came to King David and lectured him.  His son, Absalom, had betrayed him, yet he still wanted him to live.  Joab accused him of "loving those who hate you and hating those who love you."  He said if he didn't go down and congratulate his people for winning the fight, he would surely lose all of his followers.  David took Joab's advice and commended all of his people for their efforts. 
King David then returned to Jerusalem. 
I took an interesting tidbit from today's reading.  David was definitely mourning the loss of his son, but in order to continue with his everyday duties, he had to rise above that grief be a king to his people.  It's a hard concept to grasp, but an important one.  It's obviously very important to grieve a loss, but in certain situations, it's also important to be like David and rise above that grief to care for others, too.