2 Samuel 13:29-39: in context

After Absalom murders his brother Amnon in revenge and flees to a distant land, David is left to grieve. He mourns bitterly, first at the false report that all his sons were dead, then over the real loss of Amnon, and over Absalom, his son who had committed murder and fled into exile. For three years Absalom remained away; and the account tells us that David mourned for his son every day, and that the king longed to go out to Absalom. Though his son had done a grievous wrong and fled, David's heart still yearned for him.

The detail worth holding is that David longed for his estranged son. Absalom had murdered his brother, a grievous sin, and had fled far away. By ordinary reckoning, David might have written him off, hardened his heart against the murderer who had fled. But he did not. His heart still yearned for Absalom; he longed to go out to him; he mourned for his estranged son every day. The father's love did not die when the son sinned and fled; it continued, longing for the wayward child even in his estrangement. This is a picture, dim but real, of God's love for his estranged children. We can imagine that when we sin grievously and turn away from God, his love for us dies, that he hardens his heart against us, writes us off, no longer cares. David's yearning for his estranged son says otherwise about the heart of a father, and points to the greater heart of God. God's love for his wayward children does not die when they sin and turn away; his heart still yearns for them, longs for their return, aches over their estrangement. How can I give you up, God says of his wayward people through Hosea; my heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm. God longs for the return of his estranged children. This reaches its fullness in Jesus' parable of the father who, seeing his prodigal son while he was still far off, was filled with compassion and ran to meet him. That father had not written off the son who had squandered everything and left; he watched and longed for his return, and ran to embrace him. God is that father, whose heart yearns for his estranged children, who longs for their return, who runs to meet the one who turns back. This is a comfort for the estranged and the wayward. If we have sinned and turned from God, we may fear that his love for us has died, that we have gone too far to be wanted. But the father's heart yearns for the estranged child; God longs for our return, aches over our estrangement, waits and watches for us to come back. His love did not die when we turned away; it longs for us still. This calls us to trust the longing love of God and to return to him. David's heart yearned for his estranged son; and God's heart yearns for his estranged children with a love beyond David's. If we have wandered far, we are not beyond God's love or longing; his heart yearns for us, and he waits, like the father in the parable, to run and meet us when we turn back. Let us trust the longing love of the God whose heart yearns for his estranged children, and return to the Father who longs for us and runs to meet the one who comes home.

If I have sinned and turned from God, do I fear that his love for me has died and that I have gone too far to be wanted, or can David, whose heart yearned every day for his estranged son Absalom even after grievous wrong, together with the father who ran to meet his returning prodigal, assure me that God's love for his wayward children does not die but yearns for them, longing for their return, so that I trust the longing love of God and return to the Father who waits and runs to meet the one who comes home?