2 Samuel 18:33, NIRV

³³The king was very upset. He went up to the room over the entrance of the gate and wept. As he went, he said, “My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! I wish I had died instead of you. Absalom! My son, my son!”

Definition:

Worship – to give honor, hope, praise, and glory to God.

Message:

Do you know what grief is? (Allow children to answer.) Grief is tremendous suffering and deep sadness that we might experience during our life. Grief could come after the death of a loved one. It could begin after the death of a pet. Grief could happen when our best friend moves to another city, and we have to say goodbye. We can’t get over grief – deep sadness- the way we get over a cold. Have you ever been sick with a cold? (Allow children to share situations.) When we catch a cold, we usually feel better after a few days. We may go to the doctor or take some medicine; both will help us get better. Deep sadness and grief from the death or loss of someone we love isn’t like that. Our lives will never be the same again.

In today’s scripture passage, we learn of King David’s son, Absalom. Absalom wasn’t a good son. In fact, he was making plans to take the throne away from his father! But David continued to love him. When David found out that Absalom had been killed in battle, he was filled with grief and deep sadness. He wished he could have been the one who died instead of his son.

Death tears us apart from those we love. We can’t hug them or talk to them anymore. When people we love die, it is okay for us to feel the deep sadness of grief. After a while, we won’t be sad all the time. Of course, there will always be those moments of sadness, but we won’t cry and tremble all the time, the way that King David did when he first got the news of his son’s death. That doesn’t mean we should try to forget about what happened to cause such sadness. Instead, we should remember the people we grieve for and give thanks to God for their lives.

We don’t know why there is so much suffering and sadness in our world. But we know that God sees the suffering and looks to comfort us when we are hurting. Say our definition of worship with me, “Worship – to give honor, hope, praise, and glory to God.” (Allow children to say it once or twice with you.) When we worship, we put our hope in God, a God who loves each of us and offers comfort when we grieve.

Today, I want to focus on “hope.” If we put our hope in God, God promises that one day there will be no more sadness. If we cling to hope in God, there will be no more pain. This news may seem too good to be true, but it is true. And that is worthy of worship.