2 Samuel 14:11 says, Then said she, I pray thee, let the king remember the LORD thy God, that thou wouldest not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy any more, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth. The woman then asked David to remember the LORD and not allow those who would avenge the death of her one son to kill her other son who had killed him. Since this story was made up that wasn't going to happen anyway, but she needed David’s assurance before he checked the situation out. As stated before, we should never make decisions without knowing all the facts. David promised her no harm would come to her son. Verse twelve adds, Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak one word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on. The woman then asked David for permission to say one more thing to him, even though he had given her what she supposedly wanted, and he granted granted her permission. Verse thirteen continues, And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king doth speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished. She asked David how he could grant her request while his son Absalom was banished. She said his reasoning was faulty in doing so. If we are willing to forgive others no matter what they have done, which is the way that God forgives, but will not forgive our own family members for whatever they may have done, then our reasoning is faulty. Verse fourteen states, For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him. She told David that everyone would die and be like water spilled on the ground but that God did not respect people, or value one over the other and that He made it possible for all the banished to return to Him. This restoration is still available to all who will accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord. The woman was telling David that if he spared her son and not Absalom that he was showing favoritism to her son, even though he really didn't exist. We as Christians cannot show favoritism in forgiveness. Verse fifteen adds, Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid. The woman said she made her request because of fear of what people would do to her son. Verse sixteen adds, For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God. She added that she made her appeal because she knew David had the power to deliver her. We can only appeal to God for deliverance from the penalty of sin, because He is the only One Who can give it. Verse eighteen concludes, Then thine handmaid said, The word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the LORD thy God will be with thee. The woman said that God would give David the ability to discern the truth of the situation, and He will still do so today. Verse eighteen says, Then the king answered and said unto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall ask thee. And the woman said, Let my lord the king now speak. David then told the woman to answer his question truthfully. All we can ask from people today is that they speak truthfully with us. Verse nineteen adds, And the king said, Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this? And the woman answered and said, As thy soul liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from ought that my lord the king hath spoken: for thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of thine handmaid: David asked the woman if Joab was responsible for her coming to him with her story, so it would seem that the Spirit of discernment was with David. The Holy Spirit will give us the ability to discern the truth if we rely on Him. The woman admitted that Joab had sent her and told her what to say, even though that could have put her in danger with David. Even if it may put us in danger, we must always tell the truth. Even though she hadn't been truthful so far, the woman now told the truth. Verse twenty continues, To fetch about this form of speech hath thy servant Joab done this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth. She then said that David had shown wisdom in his answer to her supposed problem and that he needed to apply it to his situation with Absalom. We cannot apply one standard of forgiveness to one person and a different standard to others. Like God, we should not show partiality to people. Verse twenty-one concludes, And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again. David told Joab to go and bring Absalom home. We need to forgive others if they have harmed us in some way, and do our best to bring them home to God.
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