2 Samuel 14:14: “For we will surely die and become like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises means, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him.”

June 23rd, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Water that has been spilt on the ground and cannot be gathered up again is a beautiful picture of lost opportunities. If you spill a glass of water on the ground, you certainly can’t put it back into the glass. The point is there is a finality about death that cannot be recovered from on this earth. Within strained family relationships, the death of one of the parties ends all opportunities of reconciliation. The wise woman from Tekoa was reminding David of the finality the potential death of Absalom would bring. She was warning him that if the bitterness and lack of communication continued between them and either of them died, then David would never be able to rectify the problem.

There are 2 lessons to be learned from this exchange. First, we need to be careful in our own families when there is conflict over some issue. We must settle it quickly. As Jesus tells us in Matthew 18, we are to go to that person and make it right. Second, we can all learn from the persistence of this wise woman. We also are to be both persistent and fervent in our petitions to God. James 5:16 tells us “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Don’t let the phrase “righteous man” keep you from applying this verse to your life. Here the righteous man refers to anyone whose sins have been confessed and forgiven. When the person who has repented and is forgiven, prays, whether male or female, young or old, they are fully able to secure results with Father God.

“LORD, we want to keep short accounts between others, and we want to continue to ask You for Your hand on our lives this day.”