2 Samuel 14:11-17: a reflection

11Then she said, “Please let the king remember the LORD your God, that the avenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they destroy my son.” He said, “As the LORD lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the earth.” 12Then the woman said, “Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.” He said, “Say on.” 13The woman said, “Why then have you devised such a thing against the people of God? For in speaking this word the king is as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring home again his banished one. 14For we must die, and are like water spilled on the ground, which can’t be gathered up again; neither does God take away life, but devises means, that he who is banished not be an outcast from him. 15Now therefore, seeing that I have come to speak this word to my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid. Your servant said, ‘I will now speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant.’ 16For the king will hear, to deliver his servant out of the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God. 17Then your servant said, ‘Please let the word of my lord the king bring rest; for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad. May the LORD, your God, be with you.’”

As the wise woman of Tekoa pleads with David to bring back his estranged son, she says something that reaches beyond her immediate purpose to the very heart of God: We must die, and are like water spilled on the ground, which can't be gathered up again; neither does God take away life, but devises means, that he who is banished not be an outcast from him. God, she says, does not simply cast off the banished, leaving them forever outcast; he devises means, finds ways, to bring back the banished, that they not be cut off from him.

Notice the picture of God she gives: one who devises means to bring back the banished. God does not, she says, leave the banished as an outcast forever, abandoned and cut off; he devises means, finds ways, to bring them back to himself. His heart is toward restoration, not permanent banishment; he works, contrives, finds a way, so that the one estranged from him need not remain an outcast. God is not content to leave the banished cast off; he seeks their return, devising means to bring them home. His heart is to restore.

That picture of God is worth resting in, for it means God's heart toward us, even when we have wandered far, is to bring us back, not to leave us cast off. We can feel that our wandering has made us outcasts, banished from God, cut off forever; but God does not leave the banished as outcasts, but devises means to bring them back. God's heart toward the estranged is restoration; he finds ways to bring back the banished, that they not be cut off from him. When you have wandered far and feel cast off from God, do not think yourself a permanent outcast; God devises means to bring back the banished, that they not be outcast from him. Trust the God whose heart is to restore, who does not leave the banished cast off but finds ways to bring them home, as this supremely he has done in Christ, providing the way for the banished to return and not be outcast from him.

Lord, as the wise woman of Tekoa pleads with David to bring back his estranged son, she says something that reaches beyond her immediate purpose to the very heart of you: we must die, and are like water spilled on the ground, which can't be gathered up again; neither does God take away life, but devises means, that he who is banished not be an outcast from him. You, she says, do not simply cast off the banished, leaving them forever outcast; you devise means, find ways, to bring back the banished, that they not be cut off from you. Show me the picture of you she gives: one who devises means to bring back the banished. You do not leave the banished as an outcast forever, abandoned and cut off; you devise means, find ways, to bring them back to yourself. Your heart is toward restoration, not permanent banishment. You are not content to leave the banished cast off; you seek their return. Let me rest in that picture of you, for it means your heart toward me, even when I have wandered far, is to bring me back, not to leave me cast off. I can feel that my wandering has made me an outcast, banished from you, cut off forever; but you do not leave the banished as outcasts. Your heart toward the estranged is restoration. When I have wandered far and feel cast off from you, keep me from thinking myself a permanent outcast; you devise means to bring back the banished, Lord. Help me trust the God whose heart is to restore, who has supremely done this in Christ, providing the way for the banished to return.