Page 230
DAVID'S
LAMENTATION.
"And
as
he
went,
thus
he
said,
O
my
son
Absalom!
my
son,
my
son
Absalom
would
God
had
died
for
thee,
O
Absalom,
my
son,
my
son"
2
Sam.
18:33.
Slow.
Key
of
A
Minor.
Soft.
William
Billings,
about
1800.
Da-vid
the
king
was
grieved
and
moved,
He
went
to
his
chamber,
his
chamber,
and
wept;
Da-vid
the
king
was
grieved
and
moved,
He
went
to
his
chamber,
his
chamber,
and
wept;
Da-vid
the
king
was
grieved
and
moved,
He
went
to
his
chamber,
his
chamber,
and
wept;
And
as
he
went
he
wept,
and
said,
O
my
son!
O
my
son!
Would
to
God
I
had
died,
Would
to
God
I
had
died
For
thee,
O
Ab
-
sa-lom,
my
son,
my
son!
my
son!
O
my
son!
Would
to
God
I
had
died,
For
thee,
O
Ab
-
sa-lom,
my
son,
my
son!
O
my
son!
O
my
son!
Would
to
God
I
had
died,
Would
to
God
I
had
died,
For
thee,
O
Ab-sa-lom,
my
son,
my
son!
O
my son!
O
my
son!
Would
to
God
I
had
died,
Would
to
God
I
had
died,
Would
to
God
I
had
died,
For
thee,
O
Ab
sa
-
lom,
my
son,
my
son!
Was
published
in
the
early
song
books
by
Willianr
Billings,
and
it
was
one
of
his
early
fugue
tunes,
probably
printed
in
his
"American
Choister
Bay
Psalmist
Book."
Others
claim
that
he
composed
it
in
1800.
It
is
not
definite
when
he
did
compose
it,
but
it
was
somewhere
near
that
date.
It
also
appears
in
the
"Southern
Harmony"
by
Walker,
1835,
page
213,
and
in
the
"Missouri
Harmony,"
by
Garden,
1827
and
1837,
page
162
and
in
the
"Christian
Harmony
by
Walker,
1866,
page
367.
The
words
are
based
or
taken
from
2nd
Samuel
18th
chapter
and
33rd
verse,
and
it
is
named
"David's
Lamentation
for
his
rebellious
son
"Absalom."