2 Samuel 19:8-43

Today’s text reveals a gaping wound in the leadership of Israel, with the pain of an absent king radiating throughout the entire kingdom.  Absalom is dead and David remains in exile.  Although hard to see at first how God will accomplish his purposes, Yahweh sustains his people as he begins the healing process with David’s victorious return to the throne.  Similarly in the church today, the wound of sin is grievous, and yet Christ died to redeem us so that by his wounds we are healed, even as we look forward to the final consummation of his kingdom when he comes again.