2 Samuel 18:5
And the king commanded Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man, even with Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave all the captains charge concerning Absalom.

A heart of mercy seems to be a rare thing nowadays. We want everyone to get their just deserts, to suffer for their misdeeds, for the strong arm of justice to come down. And there is a place for accountability and punishment for sin. Of course God’s ultimate justice will be done, and that’s for Him to decide. But sometimes there is a place for mercy. We seek it from God ourselves and should extend it to others when possible.

Absalom had made some poor decisions. He’d gone astray and he’d betrayed his father, David. But no matter what he had done, he was still David’s son. And David was willing to show him mercy. The heart of a father toward his wayward son was soft. We as God’s children experience that same gentle dealing from God, though we’ve gone against Him time and time again in sin. What we’ve done in sinning has surely hurt our Father’s heart, but He is willing to deal gently with us. He is willing to forgive us, to restore us, to gather us close to His heart once again.

Let’s heed David’s request in our own lives and deal gently with those around us who may have gone astray and sinned against us. Let’s not forget that we’ve also made poor choices or acted in haste. Let’s not forget how weak we all are and how prone to mistakes we can be. We practically crave for mercy when we’ve done something wrong ourselves. Let’s not be hard and uncaring toward others, but show them the same mercy we would desire.

We can see through David just a shadow of what a father’s love for his children can entail. He mourned his son’s betrayal and he mourned his death. He mourned the broken relationship and probably desired more than anything to have that relationship restored. Our Heavenly Father’s love extends far deeper than an earthly father’s love can. And how much more He mourns our betrayals and our spiritual death. But how much more He rejoices when we humbly come back to Him. Let’s be mindful to deal gently with others as God deals gently with us.