"And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred shekels after the king's weight" (II Samuel 14:26).

Young Absalom was David's son, and soon became such a favorite of the people of Judah that many decided he should be king since, ". . . in all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty" (II Samuel 14:25). And that beauty seemed to be centered in his magnificent head of hair. By the end of each year, when he would get an annual haircut, the hair on his head weighed about five pounds.

It is interesting that many men and women even today, two thousand years later, still take great pride in their particular hairstyle. With Absalom, however, it was the means used by God to thwart his prideful rebellion. While in battle with the armed forces of his father, he rode upon his mule "under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth," where David's captain was soon able to take "three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak" (II Samuel 18:9,14).

Thus pride in his hair led to his death. The lesson for us does not focus on haircuts, but on anything that generates self-centered pride. "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (I Corinthians 10:12). Our New Year's resolutions should involve more than a haircut at year's end! Remember Absalom! They should all center around the desire to please God most of all. "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (I Corinthians 10:31). HMM