A FATHER AND A SON
   (David, Solomon and Absalom)
Is it not kind of strange
	How different they can be?
Now if I mention a father and son
	You will quickly agree.

For the son was known for his wisdom,
	The father for his heart of love.
And although he was king down here
	His thoughts were on God above.

Now the wise one lost his way with every wife he did take.
	But the father ruined his home by his one foolish mistake.
First, he fell with Bathsheba into his sinful actions
	That began to devour his home and break it into factions.

His one son raped the kings daughter and when the king was told
	He was frozen into inaction for his heart must have turned cold.
And when his next son, his daughter's brother, looked for relief
	By brutally killing the rapist the father's heart was full of grief.

He drove from the court the son who had killed his half brother
	And would not let him come home even to visit his mother.
Then after four years, it seems, the king had finally relented.
	The son was brought back  yet neither one had repented.

The son tried to see his father (and I wonder what could have been)
	But the father refused reconciliation, not now or then.
So when the son stole the throne from his own dad
	We all agreed together that the son really was bad.

Yet when the war was over and the king his victory had won
	Then it was that he mourned over the death of his son.
We need to learn a dear lesson from the story of this king
	Make peace with those we love while we still can sing.

Do not wait until life is over to try to make amends
	But on this very day seek to heal your hurting friends.

Pastor Van for Father's Day 1997