David’s Lamentation

The story of King David is a tragic, and yet somehow beautiful, story.  

These verses tell of when David fights against his rebelling son, Absalom, in a war.  After a series of events, Absalom conspires and rebels against his father.  David and Absalom end up going to war against each other, and the above verses describe David’s reaction when he hears of Absalom’s death.

I find it particularly beautiful and touching that David says, “would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!” After Absalom rebels and betrays his father, his father’s love is so great for him, he still wishes he had died for him.

This is a type of Christ’s love for us.  It is a type of the deepest love that Jesus teaches of in the New Testament in John 15:13:

Whether you’re religious or not, I think this rings true — that sacrifice is one of the deepest forms of love.  The song sung by Chanticleer really describes this emotion that David is feeling.  When I listen to it, I feel David’s mourning and his love for his son.

You saw her bathing on the roof

Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you

She tied you to a kitchen chair

She broke your throne, and she cut your hair

And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

…

I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch

Love is not a victory march

It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

…

Maybe there’s a God above

But all I’ve ever learned from love

Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you

It’s not a cry you can hear at night

It’s not somebody who has seen the light

It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

…

I’ll stand before the Lord of Song

With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

In Hebrew, the word “Hallelujah” means “Praise the Lord, Yaweh.”  I think these lyrics, while I don’t agree with every aspect of them, mean that David, as broken and tragic as he his, continues to praise the Lord.  To  me, the cry “Hallelujah” means love: “Love is not a victory march, it’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah.”  David praises the Lord in the entire Book of Psalms, he sings praises to the Lord.  He sings to the Lord his God, “Hallelujah.”

Like in the famous Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

David is an example of one who loves, one who loves with his whole heart.  He loves his son, and he loves the Lord his God.  David was not the perfect king, and I cry at his downfall with Bath-sheba and killing her husband.  But David always sought to be a righteous king after these actions.

May we love God with a strong love.  May we love those around us, even those who betray us and rebel against us.

And let us never forget the love God has for us, stronger than any love David expresses.  Christ laid down his life for us, the greatest love that gives us reason to hope and rejoice.