Gospel Reflections #1095: God’s will rather than our own emotions.

2 Samuel 13:28 ‘Absalom gave orders to his servants, saying, “Listen, when Amnon is drunk and in high spirits, and I tell you to attack him, kill him. Do not be afraid; this is my command. Be courageous; be brave.”’

This passage depicts the decisive moment in a tale of revenge, in which Absalom—King David’s third son—orders his servants to assassinate his half-brother Amnon.

Absalom’s full sister, Tamar, had been forcibly raped by her half-brother Amnon.

Although their father, King David, was furious at this, he imposed no punishment whatsoever on his eldest son, Amnon.

Witnessing his father’s unjust silence, Absalom concealed his anger for two whole years, biding his time and waiting for an opportunity to catch Amnon off guard so that he might exact his own revenge.

Absalom invited the princes to a feast celebrating the sheep shearing, lured Amnon there, and, seizing the moment when Amnon had completely let his guard down and become drunk, had him assassinated.

Within the broader narrative of the Bible, this tragedy is also the fulfilment of God’s judgement—as proclaimed by the prophet Nathan in response to the sins King David himself had committed in the past (the murder of Uriah and the taking of his wife, Bathsheba)—namely, that ‘trouble will arise from your own house’.

As a result of David’s failure to address the sin within his own household (his silence), a chain of further blood feuds (murder) ensued amongst his children.

When we are bound by feelings of guilt or self-reproach, we may sometimes succumb to our emotions at times when we ought to speak the truth.

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We should choose to align ourselves with God’s will rather than our own emotions.

Although David’s sons committed exactly the same sins as their father—taking Bathsheba and killing Uriah—there may be aspects of ourselves that we have inherited which we would rather not have, yet over which we have no control.

However, when Jesus came into this world as a human being, He too became a human being subject to the influence of sin, and therefore had the potential to sin.

Yet Jesus did not choose to sin.

We, too, should not proceed based solely on what we can see or on our emotions; rather, we should turn our eyes to God, even for a moment, and reflect on ourselves.

When we seek help from God, He will surely answer us.

AUTHOR'S BIO: This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San, who resides in Hiroshima, Japan. Masae is a dedicated student of the Bible with a deep passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on Gospel perspectives to reach out to others and spread the message of God's true love through a Christ-centered approach. We are sharing her insights here so that you, too, can experience the joy that comes from knowing and understanding the true Gospel and the love of God through Jesus Christ.