II Samuel 17-19

 “O my son Absalom!” (19:4). King David wept when he heard that the rebel prince, his beloved son Absalom, had been killed.  His grief was complicated with guilt, because the prophet Nathan had declared that after David’s sins of adultery and murder, “the sword shall never depart from your house” (12:10).  King David’s abuse of power and distorted family structure had terrible results.  Yet David’s general (19:7) urged him to “Arise” and think of the people living, and the future (19:7).

After the war, David worked toward a united, better future (19:22). Real repentance sets us free from the past we cannot change and allows God to redeem our future for his good purposes.