Absalom stole the heart of Israel:
Why should he not? Beautiful was he
And without blemish, the fairest lamb of the flock:
And, when he stole the heart of Israel,
He stole also his father David's heart.
David loved beauty even when it had betrayed him:
So, deep in grief at Mahanaim's gates,
He waited for some word of Absalom.
Did his thoughts waver to and fro within him?
May not a father love his wayward son?
But Absalom himself sought David's life—
The God-anointed king of Israel.
"O Father Abraham, you, at the word of God,
Were not afraid to give your only son,
But I — I am not Father Abraham."
Absalom had stolen his father David's heart.
And so we too sit sad before the gates,
Hugging our idols. Pride shines well in the sun—
It has the very glint of Absalom's hair.
But self-deception is a flatterer:
Greed and conceit can comfort us in vain,
When our hearts are torn even as David's was.
