Pardoned Sin's Unceasing Harvest in the House

David's forgiveness through Nathan's word came with a terrible stipulation: 'the sword shall never depart from his house.' Maclaren crystallizes the paradox that haunted the remainder of David's reign—pardon from YAHWEH does not erase the karmic consequences woven into the moral fabric of creation. Absalom's rebellion springs directly from David's disgraceful crime with Bathsheba, as surely as a poisoned root bears bitter fruit.…