 Today, we're going to be looking at a father. We're going to be looking at David. It's found here in chapter 18 of 2 Samuel. And I chose to call this particular installment in our verse-by-verse study of 2 Samuel simply by the title of Father's Pain. And we're going to see why I chose to entitle it a Father's Pain in just a moment because we're going to see David, the king of Israel. And we're going to see the grief that he is about to endure because of a relationship that had gone bad with his son. And so here we are in 2 Samuel chapter 18. We're going to be looking at a Father's Pain. Let's begin reading at verse 1, reading verses 1 and 2, and we'll get into our study today. 2 Samuel chapter 18, beginning at verse 1. We read, And David numbered the people who were with him and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them. Then David sent out one-third of the people under the hand of Joab, one-third under the hand of Abishai, the son of Zeruia, Joab's brother, and one-third under the hand of Itai, the Gittai. And the king said to the people, I also will surely go out with you myself. So as we begin, as we've been continuing our study through 2 Samuel and have arrived at chapter 18, we once again see King David in a time where he needs to enter into battle. He needs to enter into war. Now, his son Solomon later would write Ecclesiastes, the book of Ecclesiastes, and in chapter 3 in verse 1, Solomon writes to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. And then continuing in Ecclesiastes 3, he says in verse 8, a time of war and a time of peace. What we find David in is a time of war, and a time of war was all too common in the life of this great king. This is something that he was constantly involved in. But this time it's not a war against Philistines. It's not a war against Ammonites or Moabites or Syrians. This time he's engaged in battle against Israelites, against fellow Jews. And not only that, he's not going against a foreign king. This time he's going against his own son, a young man by the name of Absalom. Now David is a battle-tried king, and he's a warrior. And because he is a warrior and a battle-proven king, he begins to organize his troops. And that's what we see in verses 1 and 2. Here in 2 Samuel chapter 18 verses 1 and 2, he begins to organize his troops, and he breaks them down into divisions. And so he's going to actually develop them or bring them into companies and divisions, because his son Absalom is busy gathering troops from the north to the south. So that gives David some time. He uses this time to organize his men. He prepares them now for the battle that is before them. Notice with me in verse 2 how it says he sent out a third of the people under the hand of Joab, a third under the hand of Abishai, and then the remaining third under the hand of Etai, the Getai. What's interesting about this is that normally they would develop their military, they would divide the military into thirds. That was a common practice at that time. But here there's a reason for it because Etai, the Getai, is actually a Philistine. So what you have with Abishai and Joab is you have them as nephews of David and brothers. You have them leading the Jewish troops, but you have Etai, a Philistine, who's going to be leading the Philistine soldiers that he brought with him. We saw in the past, as we've been reading through this, that he brought with him at least 600 soldiers. And so he's going to be leading as a commander over Philistines. The reason is very simple. It's because a Jewish soldier may not follow the lead of a Philistine commander, and a Philistine soldier may not follow the lead of an Israelite commander. It's kind of like what you have today in the United States, when the United States is placed under the authority of the United Nations. There are American soldiers who have a real difficult time following orders from a foreign commander. Well, during the time of David, it's the same thing. So a Philistine may not want to follow the orders of an Israelite, and the Israelite certainly doesn't want to follow the orders of a Philistine. So they're broken into three divisions. The two Jewish divisions are naturally going to combat for the life of Israel, but they're also going to be the kinds of, they're going to be producing the kind of incentive to make a Philistine say, I want to show you that I can fight just as well as you. And so there's actually an incentive being involved here too, because the Philistines are going to attempt to fight against the Israelites with the same fervor that Abishai and Abu Dhabi are going to show. And so what happens here is David divides his troops into these divisions and under commanders. Now, as he does so, notice verse two, it says, the king said to the people, I also will surely go out with you myself. And so David feels as their leader that he has the responsibility of risking his life along with his men. You see, he'd made the mistake of remaining behind in a time of war before. He doesn't want to do that again. So he says to them, I'll follow, I'll go along with you and I'll battle my enemies alongside of you. I also will surely go out with you myself. Well, verse three, the people answered, you shall not go out. For if we flee away, they will not care about us. Nor have half of us die, will they care about us. But you are worth 10,000 of us now. For you are now more help to us in the city. The king said to them, whatever seems best to you, I'll do. So the king stood beside the gate and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands. They said, of course not. You're not going to go with us because you have greater value to us alive than dead. Remember with us in chapter 17 verses two and three, I hit the fel, had given strategy to Absalom and had said, all we need to do is isolate David, we'll kill him and the rest of the troops will flee. If you cut the head off, the body's going to die. And so David's men are aware of that. They say, look it, if we're in a battle, they're not going to be caring about us. What they're going to be looking for is you David. You are greater help to us by remaining behind. Now if for some reason we need support, if we need help, then you can lead some troops to be our reinforcements, but you're more, it's better for you to remain here because you're worth more alive than dead. So please remain behind. Well David hears that and decides to remain. So he stands by the gate and as the troops begin to file out, David is there giving them blessings and giving them greetings. It is believed commonly that David at this time concerning this wrote Psalm 20. And in Psalm 20 verses 1 and 2 it says, may the Lord answer you in the day of trouble. May the name of the God of Jacob set you on high. May he send you help from the sanctuary, support you from Zion. In verse 7 it says, some boast in chariots and some in horses, but we will boast in the name of the Lord our God. So as David is there and he's giving blessings and greetings to the people as they're passing by, notice verse 5, it says, the king had commanded Yohab, Abishai and Etaib saying, deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captain's orders concerning Absalom. So as each division is passing by, David is speaking and he loudly is commanding his captains to deal gently with his son. In spite of all that Absalom has done, I want you to notice this, David still has a deep love for this rebellious, rebellious son. And so he's saying, I want you to deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom. Now as he is saying that loudly, the people are hearing what the king is saying and those who didn't hear him directly are going to be hearing it through word of mouth. So this word passes through all the divisions. So verse 6, the people went out into the field of battle against Israel and the battle was in the woods of Ephraim. Ephraim, this is located, we'll say, just east of the Jordan River in that general area there. And the people of Israel were overthrown there before the servants of David. A great slaughter of 20,000 took place there that day. For the battle there was scattered over the face of the whole countryside. The woods devoured more people that day than the sword devoured. And so there was a, it's a rocky place filled with cliffs and tree stumps and gorges. The panicked soldiers are running, some are falling over the cliffs, others are getting caught up or entangled in some of the shrubs and all and they're ending up dying. And so a great victory is won in the case of David. Well, in verse 9, Absalom met the servants of David. Absalom rode on a mule. The mule went under the thick boughs of a great terebinth tree. His head caught in the terebinth. He was left hanging between heaven and earth. And the mule, which was under him, went on. Now a certain man saw it and told Joab and said, I just saw Absalom hanging in a terebinth tree. So as Absalom is there, he's the king. He's mounted on a mule. He sees that it's not going well with his troops and decides to get out. As he's riding on this mule, he goes underneath the branches of a tree and apparently there's a fork in the tree branches. His head slides in between and actually lodges there. The mule keeps moving and leaves him hanging. Now he had hair, as we've read earlier, that would grow at such a great rate that he had to cut it off yearly and it weighed five pounds. So his hair is caught in the branches. His neck is stuck between the forks of these two branches. He's unable to get off. And as this is happening and he's trying to struggle to get free, here's a soldier who sees him. Now instead of doing anything, he goes off to the commander and he tells him, I just saw Absalom hanging in a tree. Now notice what happens here. Verse 11, Joab says to the man who told him, you just saw him. Why did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have given you ten shekels of silver and a belt. I would have given you a financial reward as well as honor because this belt symbolizes honor. But the man said to Joab, though I to receive a thousand shekels of silver in my hand, I would not raise my hand against the king's son. For in my hearing, the king commanded you and Abishai and Itai saying, beware lest anyone touch the young man Absalom. Otherwise, I would have dealt falsely against my own life. For there's nothing hidden from the king and yourself would have set yourself against me. Are you kidding me? You think I'm going to raise my hand against the king's son? There's no way. I heard the command that was given. There's no way that I'm going to raise my hand and do that. David said he wanted us to deal gently with this son. You're telling me that I should have slain him. Now if I'd have killed him, David would have heard about it. If David would have heard about it, he would have had me put to death. That's what he did to the Amalekite who came and gave him the message concerning the death of Saul and claimed that he killed Saul. When David heard that the Amalekite said he killed King Saul, David had that man slain. You think I'm going to be telling David or killing David's son? No, there's no way. Now if David himself didn't kill me, if I came and told you, you might have killed me too. So there's no way. I just came to let you know what I saw. Well in verse 14, Joab says, I cannot linger with you. And he took three spears in his hand and thrust them through Absalom's heart while he was still alive in the midst of the Terabinth tree. And ten young men who bore Joab's armor surrounded Absalom and struck and killed him. So Joab blew the trumpet and the people returned from pursuing Israel for Joab held back the people. So what he does is he takes some sharpened sticks and he goes to the location of where Absalom is. He takes those sticks and he plunges them through the center of his body. When it says here that he thrust them through Absalom's heart, that's really a geographic kind of picture. He thrust them through his belly area and as he put these sticks through him like that, Absalom doesn't die. Joab has his armor bearers with him, ten men. And so they end up killing Absalom as he's there hanging in that tree. Well they took Absalom and they cast him into a large pit in the woods and laid a very large heap of stones over him then all Israel fled everyone to his tent. Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up a pillar for himself which is in the Kings Valley. For he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance. He called the pillar after his own name and to this day it is called Absalom's monument. I want to develop something with you. It's going to take just a moment to do. I want you to notice that after he died he was buried under a very large heap of stones. That's a symbolic reminder of how an unrepentant rebellious son is to die. You might find this interesting, most of you already know this, but in ancient Israel if I had a rebellious son, that rebellious son is to be put to death. Now I'm glad we live under the time of grace and mercy because I wouldn't be speaking to anybody here because I one wouldn't be here. My dad would have had me put to death at the age of 15 and I'm supposing that most of you guys wouldn't be here either. In Deuteronomy in chapter 21 it says in verses 18 through 21, if a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother and who when they have chastened him will not heed them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. They shall say to the elders of his city, this son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard. Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones, so you shall put away the evil from among you and all Israel shall hear and fear. And so what Joab does, and I'm going to develop this with you when I get to a conclusion, but what Joab does is he basically performs the letter of the law, not the complete letter because the father was to be involved in this, but what David had was a rebellious son and that's why the stones are poured over him because that's a warning, that's a symbol, that's a picture. This was a rebellious son and he has died and these stones are here to remind you that Absalom was of this manner. Now Absalom, and I want you to see this in verse 18, in his lifetime had taken up instead a pillar for himself which is in the Kings Valley for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance. We saw earlier in chapter 14 at verse 27 that he actually had three sons which tells us that his sons did not grow into adulthood and so because he has no surviving sons what he has chosen to do was to build a monument in his own memory not realizing that he ultimately was going to die in the way that he did. Now what's interesting is every time you go to Israel when you're on the outside of the walls of the city of Jerusalem when you're driving along those walls going towards what is called the Kidron Valley there is a monument there that is called Absalom's monument. Now our guides will make it clear that that is not the actual monument that is spoken of here in the bible because it's dated in the first century and this occurs obviously long before that but it is a place that the rabbis would actually take rebellious children they would have parents take rebellious children to this particular monument there and and and I took this a quotation rebellious children were taught in Judaism to throw stones at the shrine of Absalom to learn what rebellion leads to and the rabbis would say if anyone in Jerusalem has a disobedient child he shall take him out to Absalom's monument and force him by words or stripes to hurl stones at it and to curse Absalom meanwhile telling him the life and fate of that rebellious son and so this is a reminder and even to this day they still have something that's referred to as Absalom's tomb so that the people can remember that Absalom rose in opposition as a rebel against his own father and to this day you can go to Jerusalem and go buy a monument that's erected established a reminder of what Absalom did well in verse 19 then Ahimaz the son of Zedach said let me run now and take the news to the king how the Lord has avenged him of his enemies now Ahimaz was a messenger who would bring news to David he actually had come bringing a message from Hushai to David and he remained there so now he wants to bring a message of victory to David he thinks that this is a great thing the David's soldiers have gained the victory I want to go and tell him about it now it's obvious that his youthfulness has not equipped him with more mature understanding he's not aware of how David will take the news and so in verse 20 Joab says to him you shall not take the news this day for you shall take the news another day but today you shall take no news because the king's son is dead you do not want to bring that kind of news to David and so he says some other time you can carry news but not now this is not the kind of news David will rejoice over well Joab said to the Kushite go tell the king what you have seen so the Kushite bowed himself to Joab and ran so he goes to somebody else and he says you go and you take the news you you bring the news because this message is being sent by a man from Kush that tells us that he's a lower ranking individual than that priest and a man of lower rank would normally be the bearer of bad news and so he sends somebody of a lower rank and he says you go and tell David of this news well in verse 22 ayama as the son of the doc said again to Joab but whatever happens please let me also run after the Kushite Joab said why will you run my son since you have no news ready but whatever happens he said let me run so he said to him run forest run no no he didn't he said run run then ayama's ran by way of the plane and outran the Kushite so he took a shorter route the Kushite had already taken off but he knew a quicker way to get there and he took a shorter route so that he could arrive before the Kushite arrives now David verse 24 was sitting between the two gates and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate to the wall lifted his eyes and looked and there was a man running alone then the watchman cried out and told the king and the king said if he's alone there is news in his mouth and he came rapidly and drew near if he's alone that's good a good sign because if our troops have been defeated there'd be numerous people running but seeing that he's alone he undoubtedly is going to be bringing us some good news well in verse 26 the watchman saw another man running the watchman called to the gatekeeper and said there's another man running alone the king said he also brings news so the watchman said i think the running of the first is like the running of ayama as the son of zedah the king said he's a good man and comes with good news and so the second running alone is being interpreted as a runner bring in additional news but seeing that ayama was a priest and was a messenger to david well nationally david thinks he's going to be bringing me some great news well as he arrives verse 28 ayama is called out and said to the king all as well now that phrase all as well is really the single word shalom it really speaks of peace here it's translated all as well then he bowed down with his face to the earth before the king and said blessed be the lord your god who has delivered up the man who raised their hand against my lord the king all as well he approaches him with respect and he simply says your enemies have been overcome and defeated now notice verse 29 notice david's response the king said is the young man absalom safe ayama's answered when job sent the king servant and me your servant i saw a great tumult but i did not know what it was about david says he have greeted me with shalom does that peace extend to my son is he safe is he well is he alive i want you to see this because we're going to develop this in a moment david's concern for his son is greater than his concern for victory by his army is my son safe well he dodges the question he knows that absalom is dead so he doesn't want to give that information so verse 30 the king said turn aside and stand here so he turned aside and stood still there's a second messenger coming david knows and therefore i'll just wait to hear from him what he has to say you wait there for a moment well just then the kushite came the kushite said there's good news my lord the king for the lord has avenged you this day of all those who rose against you now notice and the king said to the kushite is the young man absalom safe so the kushite answered may the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise against you to do harm be like that young man once again he couches the answer diplomatically you know that's a good lesson for some of us to learn the truth may make a person free but how you speak that truth matters an awful lot when you speak truth it's important to speak truth in love and there's a wisdom in speaking forth the truth in this particular case there's some very sad news that has to be given very sad news and so you don't just blurt out oh yeah he's dead you don't do that many years ago my my brother frank and his girlfriend who is now his wife were taking a ride on their motorcycle on my brother's motorcycle and as he was driving on the freeway there the five freeway as he was driving on the five the san ana he didn't notice that the van in front of him had slowed down and then stopped abruptly on the freeway my brother was going 55 miles an hour on his motorcycle apparently he was looking over his shoulders saying something to to rose when he turned around all he saw was the red lights the tail lights the brake lights he didn't have more than a moment just to try and stop and he he hit his brakes but he slammed into the back of the van and he told me later on he says this is weird he says it was like slow motion i hit the bumper he said and i went flying up into the back door of the van he said there are the windows that they have in the back doors he says i just remember seeing somebody looking at me as my face was planted on that glass he said and his girlfriend rose in the impact slammed on his back so her weight compressed his lungs tore him up and so there they are hitting at close to 50 miles an hour the back of a van on the side of the road someone called me and said to me your brother's been in an accident you need to tell your mom and your dad and so marie and i went to my parents house and i still remember going into the backyard there and my dad wasn't expecting to see me and my dad's walking into the back in the backyard and he sees me and my mom comes walking with them and as they approached me marina are standing there and i said you know i need to share something with you and i said something like you know frank and rose are are fine they're okay you need to know that first but frankie had an accident in his motorcycle he is okay he's in this hospital and i just thought i needed to let you know now see what i tried to do is i tried to couch some bad news in the soft language that's what's taking place here when this kushai tells david that absalom is dead notice how diplomatically he approaches it he doesn't say oh that punk yeah he's dead he didn't say that now people thought that what he was was a rebellious son who needed to be dealt with and there was a common belief that absalom deserved death but i want you to see something in the heart of david david has been asking how is my son how is my son that's the first thing he's concerned for as the troops by by by their divisions were marching out of the gate there david was giving orders greetings and blessings and he said to his captains deal kindly to my with my son absalom be gentle with my son this is so common that that individual speaking to job said do you think that i was about to put david's son to death i heard what he said and then whenever news had come to david concerning the battle and it was taking place the first question he's asking in is my son safe is my son safe there is something in the heart of a parent in this context there is something in the heart of a father that no matter what it is that that son does that father loves that son and there are things about that the son in this particular case this son was was angry at his father was bitter towards his father he was resentful in every way towards david but that didn't change david's affection towards his son that is my son and that's how many fathers are not all fathers but many the number one love they have in their life outside of their god and their wife will be their children and in the case of david he was a man who feared god he was a man who loved his son and his concern was for his son his son absalom and so naturally he would say even though he's rebellious even though he's trying to steal my kingdom from me even though he stole the hearts of the people of israel i as a father want to know one thing and one thing only is he safe is he all right a father's pain no secret i'm a sinner no secret i've raised sinners they have their mother's nature what can i say i'm a sinner and i've raised sinners i joined good company the greatest father in the world is god any raised cane cane rather adam raised cane sinfulness in the line of humanity is from the beginning when adam fell when adam fell adam had cane sinfulness is in our nature you can be the most loving parent and still have a child who lives their own way but that does not mean that your heart doesn't break for them you might have people who say you know what just give it up just leave it alone who cares they're getting what they deserve but there was a longing love in the heart of david that you can't deny is my son safe is my son well you have given me words of peace for me but is there peace for my son absalom so on the one hand you have the longing of love you have david whose love for absalom was so great that it moved him in many ways on the other hand you have the demand for justice because joab knowing that what absalom was was a rebellious son deserved death and so what you have here is you have a father's love and you have a demand for justice how did david respond to the news well notice what he says in verse 33 the king was deeply moved and went up into the chamber over the gate and he wept and as he went he said thus my son absalom my son my son absalom if only i had died in your place oh absalom my son my son if only if only i had died in your place a father's pain a longing love and a call for justice joab said the letter of the law it matters not that david wants his son to live he's a rebellious son who's stealing the kingdom he needs to be dealt with david's broken heart and you have to picture this in your mind's eye for just a moment and some of us can't relate to this others can't if you've never had a child you can't relate to this you can't the first time i ever taught this passage my children were all very small it was in the early 80s and the first time i ever taught this passage my oldest son david was probably about six or seven years old at the time probably even younger and my joseph was three or four and the first time i read those words out loud i wept even as i just broke for a moment here as i shared it with you and i said i've got small sons babies really but can you imagine the heartbreak of a father who has lost his son when it died for you if you had my boys next to me and you walked in with a gun and you said to me it's you or one of your sons what's it going to be i wouldn't even think i'd say shoot me shoot me i wouldn't even think about it kill me let them go father's love are you kidding me you're asking me to save my life and take my son take my life take my life it matters not to me i go to be with the lord leave my son alone let him live take mine that's what david's doing when he says my son my son is he safe may all your enemies be even as that young man is you can almost see this great king breaking crumble in front of you can almost see his shoulder slump in his head bow he didn't even make it back to his home he couldn't even go home he had to go to this place this chamber above the gate there and as he was walking and his feet are shuffling and his head is moving side to side and his hands are in his face he's saying my son my son david had a little boy born to him by boutsheba the woman that he had had that adulterous affair with and that baby had died david's firstborn son was a man by the name of amnon amnon was killed and now his rebellious son a man i think to be honest with you who is probably pretty much like his father because as i've looked at the life of absalom i see this man as a man with similar traits as david he was a warrior he's man's man people loved him decisive in many ways and in the life of david and absalom i think that absalom was that one little guy who weaseled into david's heart the thought that he was dead well the grief it's like the psalmist in psalm 38 4 and 5 says my iniquities have gone over my head like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me my wounds are foul infestering because of my foolishness look at what i've brought on my family look what i've brought on myself when david failed with bassheba and nathan the prophet came and spoke to him they he said to him a sword will not depart from your house david the consequences are are now before him and david has grief because it went so far as to cost his son his life also now his son was an adult his son could have made choices that would have been different he chose not to he chose to pursue his father's kingdom he chose to sleep with his father's concubines he chose to do these things but it still broke david's heart what we have here is we have a longing of love and a call for justice in the case of god and us you have god's longing of love adam takes of the forbidden fruit there in the garden and it's a voice of the lord god calling in that garden adam where are you the longing of love but adam fell and god in his justice has said in the day that he eat there of you shall surely die so on the one hand you have god's word that says you shall surely die and on the other hand you have god crying in a garden broken hearted as a father was lost the son saying where are you now how do you reconcile that how do you reconcile the longing of god's love for us and his call for justice the soul that sins shall surely die god says i'll have sin fall short of the glory of god the wages of sin is death how do you reconcile that how do you reconcile a holy god who says if you transgress you will be dealt with justly with a god who cares well the bible says god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son and whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life god sent not ascending to the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved how do you reconcile that the call for justice and the expression of love is answered at the cross of christ david said i would have died for you jesus said i did die for you david had a rebellious son god has rebellious children what david could not do god did on our behalf and that's why jesus christ died on the cross for us now not that we could become good people but that we could become righteous people because no matter what our efforts may be no matter how we try so hard to be good the bible very clearly in roman 3 says there's none good no not one none of us is as good as jesus christ not one of us is as good as as he ever was we need help help so justice meets love at the cross of christ in psalm 85 verse 10 it says mercy and truth have met together righteousness and peace have kissed god loves us why i don't know he just does i can understand a degree of that because being a father of four children like any other parent in this room i can tell you there have been times that my heart has been absolutely broken by their behavior absolutely shattered in pieces it's been more than one night that marie and i have wept ourselves to sleep for our children's sake more than one more than one disappointment more than one hurt more than one pain people think well you're a pastor your kids are supposed to be perfect no my kids are sinners like their dad they have my nature they fail but i have told my kids especially when they have done wrong especially when they've hurt us i have said there's absolutely nothing you can never do that will make me not love you i love you it's all in my heart it's broken but i love you i would exchange myself for you that's what the lord did for us that's what the lord did for us when we didn't even realize that we were sinners when we were so caught in sin doing what we wanted he still loved us when marie was carrying our very first baby karini when she was carrying my daughter and i've shared this with you i used to rubber tummy marie's tummy and and i'd put my face next to her stomach and i'd yell out hey baby this is daddy speaking i love you i love you i would grab marie's tummy and i would shake it so that she the baby would kick and i'd put my hand there and i'd feel her kicking and i'd say all right you know and i would yell that to her and the day that ugly little baby was born and they handed me this pile of fea pile of ugly and i looked at those crossed little eyes and that flat little nose and that deformed little head and i said i hope you outgrow this no when i when i looked at her and i put her like this and i rocked her and i kissed her and i handed her to her mama we had that kodak moment where we just shared this is ours it's my baby my karini we did that with all four of our babies then the day came when you hear those words you don't love me i don't love you when you were in your mother's womb i loved you for the months that you were there i could love you and when you were born and they handed you to me i loved you now i don't like you very much but i sure love you that's one of the things you can never say to me with honesty you can never question me on whether i love you because i love you and no matter what you do and no matter what you have said father's love is forever and i will always love you i have told that to my children i will always love you i have a heavenly father who loves me deeper than i have ever loved my babies and when i was running and i was evil and i was doing all that i was doing he had a longing of love but he had a mandate of justice he brought those together on a cross and jesus died for me so that i might be brought back to him so that i would understand his words when he says you love me because i first loved you and i demonstrated my love towards you when you were yet a sinner by sending my son jesus to die for you david did not have to die for absalom he would have jesus died for us because while we were rebellious he came and laid his life down and that's the love of god a father's pain i have a heavenly father who has pain over the sinfulness of sons and daughters i caused him pain but now i want to bring pleasure to him through my life and that comes when you yield yourself to jesus christ