‘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!"‘ (2 Samuel 18. 33)

This has to be one of the most tragic verses in the whole of the Hebrew Bible. David’s third son Absalom (literally meaning ‘father of peace’), dies at the hand of Joab, and King David is heartbroken. Absalom was of course far from perfect - he was vain and self-obsessed, but he was a human with attractive and not so attractive qualities. In these days of pandemic, we mourn the loss of so many people, each of whom were precious to someone else. They now rest in God’s arms.