Finding the Garment

Finding the Garment
Words of Faith 3-18-25
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2025
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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2 Samuel 18
[19] Now Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, "Let me run and take the news to the king that the Lord has delivered him from the hand of his enemies." [20] "You are not the one to take the news today," Joab told him. "You may take the news another time, but you must not do so today, because the king's son is dead." [21] Then Joab said to a Cushite, "Go, tell the king what you have seen." The Cushite bowed down before Joab and ran off. [22] Ahimaaz son of Zadok again said to Joab, "Come what may, please let me run behind the Cushite." But Joab replied, "My son, why do you want to go? You don't have any news that will bring you a reward." [23] He said, "Come what may, I want to run." So Joab said, "Run!" Then Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and outran the Cushite. [24] While David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, the watchman went up to the roof of the gateway by the wall. As he looked out, he saw a man running alone. [25] The watchman called out to the king and reported it. The king said, "If he is alone, he must have good news." And the man came closer and closer. [26] Then the watchman saw another man running, and he called down to the gatekeeper, "Look, another man running alone!" The king said, "He must be bringing good news, too." [27] The watchman said, "It seems to me that the first one runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok." "He's a good man," the king said. "He comes with good news." [28] Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, "All is well!" He bowed down before the king with his face to the ground and said, "Praise be to the Lord your God! He has delivered up the men who lifted their hands against my lord the king." [29] The king asked, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" Ahimaaz answered, "I saw great confusion just as Joab was about to send the king's servant and me, your servant, but I don't know what it was." [30] The king said, "Stand aside and wait here." So he stepped aside and stood there. [31] Then the Cushite arrived and said, "My lord the king, hear the good news! The Lord has delivered you today from all who rose up against you." [32] The king asked the Cushite, "Is the young man Absalom safe?" The Cushite replied, "May the enemies of my lord the king and all who rise up to harm you be like that young man." [33] The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: "O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you--O Absalom, my son, my son!"

Absalom was dead. Hanging in a tree by his hair— strung up by the vanity and selfish rebellion in his heart. Ahimaaz, David's courier, was eager to bring word of the victory to David. Yes, this was good news because the rebellion was over, but what grievous news. So Joab sent an unnamed Cushite (Ethiopian) courier to break the news. No one knew how David would react, especially after hearing that his order to preserve Absalom had been disobeyed.
But Ahimaaz was not to be denied. He finally received permission to go, and after taking a shortcut, he outran the Cushite. David could see both runners from a distance. When he realized that the nearer was Ahimaaz, he assumed that the message was good because Ahimaaz himself was good. When Ahimaaz was finally able to deliver his message, all he could do was speak in general terms about the victory over Absalom.
The good news was easy but then came the bad news about Absalom and his confederates with the grisly details of his death. The Cushite delivered the hard truth, and David was overwhelmed with grief. He retired to an upper room where he privately poured out his heart before God. The depths of his love for his rebel son were couched in his lament— If only I had died instead of you.
This was a devastating time for David. Now, two of his sons, Amnon and Absalom, had both died violent deaths. After David's sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah, the Lord had said through Nathan that "the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own" (2 Samuel 12:10). Though forgiven by the Lord, David continued to face the consequence of his sin. Absalom's rebellion was his own, but David was, in part, responsible for Absalom's death.
We don't want to miss the fact that David truly loved his son in all this rebellion, even though Absalom did nothing to deserve his love. Grief and the consequence of sin are two things that we cannot sidestep. We can only walk through them. David was walking through both.
Jesus, the descendant of David, would later come for us specifically to "provide for those who grieve-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair" (Isa 61:3). The only way through such grief is to walk through it—with this provision. With His provision, we will wear the crown of beauty, the oil of gladness, and the garment of praise. Then we will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor (Isa 61:3).
These garments were not available for David, but they are available for you and me.

Father God, walk with me in times of victory and hearing good news. Comfort me in times of bad news and grief. Help me when I face deep loss and the consequences of my sin. Give me the crown of beauty, the oil of gladness, and the garment of praise. In Jesus' Name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2025
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2025 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.