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Winning Vs Losing

February 23rd, 2023

2 Samuel 18:24-33

We live in a world that is obsessed with winning and losing. We talk as if in order for someone to win, someone else must always lose. And, of course, if there can only be winners and losers, we want to be winners.

David found the price of winning too high. Absalom had rebelled and had been killed in the fighting. David’s first reaction on hearing of his victory was mourning. This is not the first time in scripture that we see this kind of reaction from him. In 2 Samuel 1 David mourned the death of Saul. 

David models a holy reaction to conflict. He would rather not have been in conflict, but even when it was unavoidable, he mourned the harm it did to those he was in conflict with. How often do we love our enemies enough to mourn our own victories? What would it look like if God changed our hearts so that we feel the pain of those we are in conflict with? It might sound like this, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom!” (v. 33). It would bring us closer to the heart of God.

Author: Steven Malcolm