O My Son
A Message of Hope and Healing for Broken Daddies and Prodigal Sons
A Father’s Day Message: A Cry, a Covenant, and the Hope That Holds
There is a cry in Scripture that silences a kingdom and pierces the heart of every father who has ever known regret. It comes from King David—not from the battlefield or the throne room, but from the quiet place where love and loss meet:
“O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you…”
— King David (2 Samuel 18:33)
This Father’s Day, I bring a message for broken daddies and prodigal sons. For families navigating betrayal, grief, or shame. For those who’ve cried out in the night and wondered if their story could ever end in hope.
In this special broadcast, Oh My Son, we look into the life of David—not only as a king and psalmist, but as a father marked by failure and faith.1 We trace the arc from David’s anguished cry to his later confession of trust in God’s everlasting covenant (2 Sam. 23:5). And we discover how our pain, too, can be held and healed by the grace of Jesus Christ.
If you or someone you love carries the wounds of a fractured home, this message is for you.
The Sermon Audio
A PRAYER ON FATHER’S DAY
You can download and share this prayer.
MUSIC
He Shall Restore Words and Music ©️2005, 2025 (Bethesda Music Group, BMI).2 Based on Joel 2:25:
“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,
The crawling locust,
The consuming locust,
And the chewing locust,
My great army which I sent among you.”
The Recording
Lyrics
He Shall Restore
Words and Music by Michael Anthony Milton
© 2005, 2025 | Bethesda Music Group (BMI)
⸻
When the locust came,
they caught me unaware;
I’d known the price of sin—
but I didn’t care.
Like a wounded bird
suspended in the air,
Caught between
hope and despair.
⸻
You were born
when I was in that state of mind,
To a destiny
that surely was unkind.
If I could go back,
I would change the hands of time—
To give you peace,
To give you me.
⸻
Yes, I just keep looking back
To the damage that was done.
And I just keep looking back,
My little ones.
⸻
So many times
I’ve longed to hold you tight,
To watch you grow
and tuck you in at night.
The sovereign Lord
who saw the locusts’ blight
Renewed our lives
and gave us light.
⸻
But I can’t help looking back
To the things that might have been.
Yes, I can’t help looking back—
And I loathe the pain of sin.
⸻
He shall restore
The years the locusts ate.
He shall restore.
And I can’t wait.
And I can’t wait.
Our Sunday Bible messages are drawn from our archives. This sermon was originally preached at Kirk O’ the Isles in Savannah Georgia in 1999.
For any who are interested in the album, it is available on Amazon. All proceeds go to Faith for Living. https://amzn.to/3HId5wl
📣 Share and Support
If this message ministers to your heart, I invite you to share it with someone who may be facing their own Absalom, their own cry in the night. This is a word of grace for broken daddies and prodigal sons, and a reminder that no one is too far from the reach of God’s covenant love.
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Thank you for standing with us in proclaiming Christ to the hurting and the hopeful alike.