Born To Win Podcast - With Ronald L. Dart

Even victory can be bitter. How can there ever be a clear victory when there is war between a father and a son? To be sure, it was a short war—only one battle—and David’s son…well, no one can know for sure, but a suspicion lingers that David may have been willing to give up the kingdom rather than see his son Absalom killed. When he told the men going out to battle to preserve Absalom, I can’t imagine what he thought he might do with the treacherous young man.Absalom and his army were put to flight. And as Absalom rode through a wooded area, his hair got caught in the branches (he had a very full head of hair) and he hung there, alive, between the tree and the ground. No one else would do it, so Joab, David’s general, drove three lances through Absalom, cut him down, and his guard finished the job. Word of the battle came to David. And while he was grateful for the victory, his was stricken in his soul for the loss of his son.33 And the king was much moved, and went up to

When a palace coup takes place, any influential person is going to have walk very carefully. It may, in fact, be impossible to sit this one out. You may wish you could retreat into the wilderness and come back when the battle is over, but everyone knows who you are and what your loyalties have been. You are forced to choose sides no matter how much you would rather not. Sometimes the side is chosen for you in spite of all your protestations to the contrary. This can happen even in a large church organization, but they usually don’t kill you over it.When Absalom engineered a palace coup and ousted his father David, It threw all kinds of people into crisis. Some went with David, some with Absalom, some ended up being spies in the enemy camp, and nearly everyone had their lives on the line. Such a man was Hushai the Archite, a man whose name is likely not familiar even to a lot of Bible readers. He started to go with David into the desert, but David sent him back with a view of defeating the counsel of ano

Sometimes, there is no explaining love. It just is. The love of God for King David of Israel knew no bounds, and that love persisted through some terrible times and some terrible acts on David’s part. Maybe, in a vague sort of way, it can be explained by the fact that David himself was a man of great emotion; he was himself a man of love. I think that may explain his bonding with Jonathan, son of Saul. It may explain David’s love for King Saul that transcended every evil thing Saul tried to do to him. And it may explain, in some small way, his love for his son Absalom. Oh yes, I know that Fathers love their sons, but the love of David for Absalom is a little harder to explain. And it is a good example of what I said: Sometimes there is no explaining love. It just is.Absalom was an altogether beautiful man. To call him handsome wouldn’t quite reach it. He was a determined man as well. When his step-brother raped his sister, it took two years, but finally Absalom took his revenge by killing Am

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It is hard to think of a family situation worse than one created by a man named Amnon, the son of David. It was event of sexual violence, ultimately leading to bloodshed. But considering what David had done with Bathsheba, and the wretched example it set, it is just as hard to think this event was not connected, somehow. But there is a lesson or two to be learned here.The first is that the biblical account says that Amnon loved Tamar—his half-sister. I’m afraid the Bible here uses the word love in broadest possible sense. Because his behavior in this case was nothing at all like true love. He was a completely self-centered, self-indulgent, weak young man—spoiled rotten, no doubt, as is too often the case with royalty—and he had the presumption of royalty, perverted by his father’s own example. I can’t help pondering what young people can learn from this incident.Under a pretext, Amnon managed to get the girl alone. The ensuing dialogue showed that she did not consider him r