Day 60: 2 Samuel 12:24–25

Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba; he went and slept with her. She gave birth to a son and named him Solomon. The Lord loved him (v. 24).

We continue to see David during the most difficult season of his life. We find some of the events hard to study, but they overflow with vital life lessons. The nuggets of gold we will dig from the painful caverns of the coming chapters will captivate us until the winds of victory blow in our faces once again. Pause right now and ask God to tender your heart to His Word.

David knew something about his God that we need to realize as well. God did not create humanity in His own image to be unaffected by Him. More than any other creature, we are products not of His head but of His heart. Numerous times in Scripture God responds to the needs of His people with the words, “I have heard your cry.” I would despair of life if I believed God is unaffected by our cries. The God of Scripture is One who feels.

Unlike us, God is never compromised by His feelings, but He is touched by the things of the heart. When David heard that he would live but his child would die, he probably begged God to allow him to die instead. Can you imagine God’s being unaffected by a parent’s painful pleas? You may be thinking, “But, Beth, God didn’t do what David asked. David’s prayers didn’t change a thing. Where is grace? Where is mercy? What changed?”

Let’s consider a few of the things that changed.

1. David’s painful pleas forced him back to a crucial place of depending on God. Somewhere along the line, David had mistaken the power of God as his own. He had so often been told he could do anything, he started to believe it. God demands that we depend on Him because only He can keep us safe. When we depend on Him, He takes care of us. When we seek security in other places, He is obligated to turn us back toward home. When we refuse the less painful nudgings of the Holy Spirit, we risk more drastic measures. Tragedy caused David to depend on God. God’s judgment seems harsh until we reconsider David’s many transgressions. He multiplied wives and concubines, took another man’s wife, took the man’s life—all with no willingness to repent. Don’t conclude that the loss of a child must be chastisement on sinful parents. God is not mean-spirited. Remember, David was the king of God’s holy nation and had continued to rebel against God in spite of the Holy Spirit’s urgings.

2. David’s pleas would satisfy his spirit in the many months of mourning to come. As he grieved the loss, he needed to know he had done everything he could to prevent the child’s death. David did not want his child to die because he did not ask God (see James 4:2).

3. David’s pleas ultimately ensured his survival through the tragedy he and his wife would suffer. David’s pleas returned him to intimacy with God. The return positioned him to make it through such loss with victory. David’s restored relationship to God enabled him to comfort his grieving wife. When tragedy hits, if we cast ourselves on the Savior and rely on Him for the very breath we draw, we will one day get up again. We will even have the strength to comfort another mourner. Perhaps most difficult to fathom, we will have the strength to return to worship.

I’m glad Scripture does not record the scene when David first returned to public worship. The moment belonged to God and David alone. I cannot hold back the tears as I imagine how quickly David’s words turned to sobs. I can picture him standing there acknowledging through wails of grief his God’s sovereignty and loving-kindness.

Have you ever returned to the Lord in worship after a painful loss that you believe He could have stopped? If so, you may view your return to worship as one of the most difficult and painful experiences of life. I suspect David would concur, but his return restored his sanity. His rediscovered relationship with God became the pillar to hold him up through the painful repercussions of his sins.

4. David’s pleas touched the heart of God to respond. God loved this man—just as He loves us. The one He loves He must discipline (Heb. 12:6). But does God’s heart ache as He disciplines? I believe the answer is yes. Beautiful evidence of the Father’s tender heart toward David emerges in this tragic account. God could not give David what he asked because He had to perform an eternal work and teach an eternal lesson.

But He did something else. Out of grace God removed the curse on the sinful union of David and Bathsheba. Their union had been wrong. Their motive was wrong. Even when David found out Bathsheba was pregnant, he tried to manipulate a way for her to stay out of his life. But now we see them drawn together by terrible tragedy. God removed the curse of their marriage and brought a child from their union. Jedidiah means “beloved of the Lord.”

“The Lord loved him.” God loves you. His chastisements can be painful, but God never turns His back on us. He will discipline us, but He will not forsake us. He will always seek to draw us back to a place where He can bless us once more.