Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life.

In the time it takes to get to work.

I'm Keith Simon.

We love a good victory story.

When the hero triumphs, when the underdog comes out on top, when the good guys finally win.

And that's exactly what happens in 2 2 Samuel 18. The rebellion is over.

The threat to David's kingdom is crushed. His army is victorious. This should be a high point for David,

but it's not. Because David isn't just a king. He's a father. And this isn't just any victory.

It's the death of his son. Let me catch you up on where we are in the story.

Absalom, David's son, has led a coup against his own father. He's manipulated people,

won hearts, built a following, and forced David out of Jerusalem. But now the final battle is

over. Absalom is dead. He was caught in a tree and run through with a sword by Joab, David's

commander. And that's where we pick

up the story in 2 Samuel 18, verse 19. There are two messengers racing to deliver the news to David.

One of the messengers is Ahamas. He's the son of Zadok the priest. And he really wants to run to

David to tell him what happened, but Joab knows that this

isn't going to be received as good news. So instead, he sends another man, a Kushite. But Ahamaz

insists that he go to David. So eventually, Joab lets him go to. Now, imagine you're David,

you're waiting at the gate, you're scanning the horizon, and he sees one man running, then another, his heart is pounding, he wants to know what happened.

Ahamaz arrives first. He says, look, there's a great victory, but when David asks about Absalom, Ahamaz dodges the question. He said, I saw a great confusion, but I don't know what it was. Then the

Kushite arrives, and this time David gets a straight answer. He says, may the enemies of the

Lord the king be like that young man. That's how David learns his son is dead. And here's how

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