"David and Absalom", by Marc Chagall
2 Samuel 18:33 - And the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”
I suppose it is possible that to fully grasp the pain in David's soul you must be a parent. And in particular, perhaps a parent who has watched their child walk down the wrong path. And to drive this point even further, perhaps this is even more deeply grasped by a man, who would add massive amount of guilt to the scene, and take upon himself massive pain for the wanderings of his son.
This painting by Marc Chagall seems to illicit this gut-wrenching pain of David's. Here we see David hugging his son Absalom, mixed with the imagery of Absalom hanging dead on the oak tree.
David knows full well that this immense pain was brought about by his sin. God made this explicitly clear through the prophet Nathan.
I am also moved to consider God crying over his children's sin as well. Remember God crying, through the prophet Ezekiel, "...Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.” (Ezekiel 18:30-32)
Certainly we must also consider our Christ crying over Jerusalem, "And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:41-44)
Oh, the pain of sin.
When we feel its sting, we cry, "Why Lord?" But if we are students of Yahweh, if we sit in the classroom of Jeshua, we learn the answer. We don't like the answer, but learn it we must. The wages of sin is death, we have all sinned, and go after our own way. We would all, left to our own devices, seek to become gods. This is the nature inherited from our elder brother Adam.
This is why we must cling to our Father. We must purpose each day to be obedient, and plant ourselves by the Living Fountain, ere we stray in our pride, and find ourselves too wailing in deepest agony over sin.
Oh my Father, my soul wails with David. Draw near, keep us close, protect us from our pride, the temptations of that Great Bastard Satan, and please dearest Abba, gather our loved ones around us. Keep us all under your wing, until that great day, when you burst through the clouds, and remove this plight from our lives once....and thankfully....for all.