2 Samuel 14:28-33 – Nurturing objectivity

Though David allowed Absalom to return to Jerusalem, he did not allow him to come to court. The pair did not meet or see each other for two full years. Absalom tried to engage Joab to inquire about the possibility of him meeting up with the king. Both his attempts proved to be unsuccessful. The commander just simply refused to engage him. Absalom then resorted to burning his barley field that was next to his own. Immediately Joab responded and came to see him. The renegade son of David then demanded to know when he would be restored to the court. He reasoned that if the king thought he was guilty then execute him. Absalom wanted the king to decide one way or the other; to kill him or else restore him to his position. Having engaged Absalom, the general then appeared before David and somehow managed to convince him to restore Absalom. The king then called for his son who came and fell prostrate before the father. No word of repentance from him was recorded. Yet David was moved, and he kissed his son and everything appeared to be restored on the surface, at least for the moment.  

Absalom had shown himself to be a self-centered and mean person. For what he had done to Amnon, he knew he justly deserved death. That was why he fled to seek refuge with his maternal grandfather. It is true that David did not do right by not taking Amnon to task for raping Tamar, but Absalom did worst by taking matters into his own hand to murder the brother in cold blood. Despite being brought back from exile to Jerusalem, Absalom was unappreciative. He was demanding to be restored to his former position and was seeking his own personal advantage at all costs. He even had the audacity to burn down his benefactor’s field just to force an audience with his father, the king. He was virtually demanding that his father should forgive and justify him despite all that he had done. David in some sense was an indulgent father and did not know how to deal with him, so he reconciled with him. He was obviously oblivious of what his son was up to. 

The lesson that can be learned here is objectivity. Absalom lacked it when he demanded to be restored to his former position despite all that he had done. He should have shown gratitude for being spared and given a new lease of life. But so self-centered was he that he demanded to be treated as if he had done nothing wrong. That is a clear lack of objectivity. David was equally unobjective. Especially when it comes to his sons. He should have dealt with both Amnon and then with Absalom impartially, but he did not because they were his sons. He was discerning in other matters, but when it had to do with his children, he seemed to have lost his ability to reason logically. Objectivity demands that one be impartial regardless of who one is dealing with. If we are to be objective, we need to nurture a Biblically oriented paradigm so that we will be able to see things from the perspective of God. This will enable us to make godly and objective decisions. Our love for God and righteous living require it, so let us go for it.