Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

Absalom's alienation from his father began here. David, feeling
that Absalom's crime demanded punishment, refused to let him
return. Shut out by his exile from the affairs of the kingdom,
Absalom occupied his time with dangerous scheming.
At the close of two years Joab determined to reconcile the
father and son. He got a woman of Tekoah, known for her wisdom,
to help him. The woman presented herself to David as a widow
whose two sons had been her only comfort and support. In a quarrel
one had killed the other, and now the relatives demanded that the
surviving son be given over to the avenger of blood. And so, said
the mother, "they would extinguish my ember that is left, and leave
to my husband neither name nor remnant on the earth." The king's
feelings were touched and he assured the woman that he would
protect her son.
Then, asking for the king's permission to say more, she pointed
out that he was at fault in not bringing his banished son home again.
"For," she said, "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." This tender and touching portrayal of
the love of God toward the sinner is striking proof that the Israelites
were familiar with the great truths of redemption. The king could
not resist this appeal. He gave the command, "Go therefore, bring
back the young man Absalom."
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