Abshalom met up with David’s servants while Abshalom was riding on a mule. The mule came under the tangle of a big oak and his head caught hold of the oak. He was given up between the heavens and the earth as the mule that was under him passed on.

Yo’ab said, ‘I won’t wait for you, therefore.’ He took three sticks into his fist and plunged them into Abshalom’s heart. While he was still alive in the heart of the oak,

David was sitting between the two gateways. The lookout at the gateway roof went to the wall. He lifted up his eyes and looked: there, a man running alone. The lookout called and told the king. The king said, ‘If he’s alone, there’s news on his lips.’ He continued to draw nearer…
The king said, ‘Come round; take your stand there.’ He came round and halted, and there, the Kushite was coming. The Kushite said, ‘May my lord the king receive the news that Yahweh has acted with authority for you today from the hand of all the people who rose up against you.’
The king said to the Kushite, ‘Is it well with the boy, with Abshalom?’ The Kushite said, ‘May my lord the king’s enemies and all who rise up against you to do something bad be like the boy.’
The king shook. He went up to the upper story of the gateway and wailed. As he went he said this: ‘My son Abshalom, my son, my son Abshalom, if only I had died, I in place of you, Abshalom, my son, my son.’
It was told Yo’ab, ‘Here, the king is wailing and has taken up grieving over Abshalom.’ The deliverance that day turned to grieving for the entire company when the company heard that day, ‘The king is in pain over his son.’ The company stole in when they came into the town that day, as a company that has battled steals in ashamed when they’ve fled in the battle, while the king covered his face. The king cried out in a loud voice, ‘My son, Abshalom, Abshalom, my son, my son’.
Goldingay, John; The Bible for Everyone . SPCK. Kindle Edition.
Audio file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/59w7ijw46iibnbv/05_03.mp3?dl=0
O Love, O God who created me, in your love recreate me.
O Love, who redeemed me,
fill up in me whatever part of your love
has fallen into neglect within me.
O Love, O God, who first loved me,
grant that with my whole heart,
and with my whole soul,
and with my whole strength,
I may love you.
Gertrude the Great