David missed his son, Absalom, who was in exile. Joab summons a wise woman to reconcile David and Absalom. (See: [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/reconcile]])
The wise woman uses a type of story to convince David that his actions were wrong. He treated a stranger worse than he treated his own son. This parable was intended to convict David of his sin. She uses David's own words against him. (See: [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sin]])