{"id":65,"date":"2011-12-02T00:43:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-02T00:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/2011\/12\/02\/davids-lamentation\/"},"modified":"2011-12-02T00:43:00","modified_gmt":"2011-12-02T00:43:00","slug":"davids-lamentation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/davids-lamentation\/","title":{"rendered":"David’s Lamentation"},"content":{"rendered":"
2 Samuel 18: 31-33<\/b><\/div>\n
And, behold Cushi came; and Cushi said, Tidings my lord the king: for the Lord hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee.<\/b><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee\u00a0hurt, be as that young man is.<\/b><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n
And the king was much moved, and went up\u00a0to\u00a0he chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!<\/b><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n

<\/i><\/div>\n
\n
The story of King David is a tragic, and yet somehow beautiful, story. \u00a0<\/div>\n
These verses tell of when David fights\u00a0against\u00a0his\u00a0rebelling son, Absalom, in a war. \u00a0After a series of events, Absalom conspires and rebels against his father. \u00a0David 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.<\/div>\n
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.<\/div>\n
This is a type of Christ’s love for us. \u00a0It is a type of the deepest love that Jesus teaches of in the New Testament in John 15:13:<\/div>\n
Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.<\/b><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
Whether you’re religious or not, I think this rings true — that sacrifice is one of the deepest forms of love. \u00a0The song sung by Chanticleer really describes this emotion that David is feeling. \u00a0When I listen to it, I feel David’s mourning and his love for his son.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

(Below is the audio clip):
Chanticleer – David’s Lamentation<\/p>\n

Powered by mp3skull.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Showing another side of David, his downfall. While not biblical, the song Hallelujah<\/i>\u00a0originally written and performed by Leanard Cohen and covered by Jeff Buckley, is very religious in meaning. \u00a0Some of the lyrics read: <\/p>\n

I’ve heard there was a secret chord<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\n
That David played, and it pleased the Lord<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

But you don’t really care for music, do you?<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

…<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Your faith was strong but you needed proof<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

You saw her bathing on the roof<\/div>\n
Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you<\/div>\n
She tied you to a kitchen chair<\/div>\n
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair<\/div>\n
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah<\/div>\n
Hallelujah, Hallelujah<\/div>\n
…<\/div>\n
I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch<\/div>\n
Love is not a victory march<\/div>\n
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah<\/div>\n
Hallelujah, Hallelujah<\/div>\n
…<\/div>\n
Maybe there\u2019s a God above<\/div>\n
But all I\u2019ve ever learned from love<\/div>\n
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you<\/div>\n
It\u2019s not a cry you can hear at night<\/div>\n
It\u2019s not somebody who has seen the light<\/div>\n
It\u2019s a cold and it\u2019s a broken Hallelujah<\/div>\n
Hallelujah, Hallelujah<\/div>\n
Hallelujah, Hallelujah<\/div>\n
…<\/div>\n
I’ll stand before the Lord of Song<\/div>\n
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Hallelujah, Hallelujah<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
In Hebrew, the word “Hallelujah” means “Praise the Lord, Yaweh.” \u00a0I 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. \u00a0To \u00a0me, the cry “Hallelujah” means love:\u00a0“Love is not a victory march, it’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah.” \u00a0David praises the Lord in the entire Book of Psalms, he sings praises to the Lord. \u00a0He sings to the Lord his God, “Hallelujah.”<\/div>\n
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\u00a0righteousness\u00a0for his name’s sake.”<\/div>\n
David is an example of one who loves, one who loves with his whole heart. \u00a0He loves his son, and he loves the Lord his God. \u00a0David was not the perfect king, and I cry at his downfall with Bath-sheba and killing her husband. \u00a0But David always sought to be a righteous king after these actions.<\/div>\n
May we love God with a strong love. \u00a0May we love those around us, even those who betray us and rebel against us.<\/div>\n
And let us never forget the love God has for us, stronger than any love David expresses. \u00a0Christ laid down his life for us, the greatest love that gives us reason to hope and rejoice.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2 Samuel 18: 31-33 And, behold Cushi came; and Cushi said, Tidings my lord the king: for the Lord hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee. And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}