Forgiveness: ‘For my sake’
2Sam 18:5-15
And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. Vs 5
Absalom was a rebellious son. Although he was dearly loved by his father David, yet his heart was not the same toward his father. He had once killed his own brother, the first born and heir to the throne. I guess he did that with a motive to gain the advantage of becoming the next in line to the throne. In his impatience to become king, he overthrew his father but not for long. In the battle that eventually restored the kingdom to David, the king who shouldn’t have been merciful to this rebellious son, commanded his commanders to deal gently with Absalom. He even called him a young man, suggesting, Absalom was not thinking maturely in all he had done.
But we all know Joab killed Absalom regardless of the king’s command. Why would an army commander go directly against an outright command from the king? It was because, he had an axe to grind with Absalom. In those days when Absalom was still seeking the favour of King David, Absalom set the whole barley farm of Joab on fire to get his attention so he could bring his case to the king. Although he did get his attention and his case was presented by Joab to the king, Joab did not forgive Absalom for what he did.
Joab was a vengeful man. It was this character that made him kill two captains of Israel who tried to take his place as the commander of the army. So, when he had the opportunity to do away with Absalom, he took it without a second thought.
Today, many people find it difficult to forgive those who had offended them in the past. They still nurse the ambition of having the pleasure of seeing those offenders in pain for what they did to them. This is a matter of concern to the Lord, who like David, we all had rebelled against, yet had found it in his heart to let go of our sins without a trace of them to be remembered now or in the future.
The remedy to an unforgiving heart is to keep closely in our hearts and honour our King’s word that says, “…for my sake.” If we really love the Lord we will forgive others because He did much more to forgive our sins than may be required from us by others who offend us.