2Samuel 12:1 ¶ And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. 2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: 3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. 4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. 5 And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: 6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. 7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; 8 And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. 9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. 11 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. 13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. 14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
The prophet Nathan is now going to give
instruction to David from the Lord God about his egregious sins. The passage
speaks for itself. God knew that David would understand based on his apparent
tenderness toward the lambs of the flock he nourished as a boy. It is not hard
to imagine that David felt a kind of love that pet owners and some, not all, but
many farmers feel toward the animals in their care, especially the youngest
ones. David is going to lose the child born of his sin, this power rape of
Bathsheba, and the murder by proxy of her husband, Uriah.
The consequences of David’s sin go beyond the
death of the baby. The future rape of his daughter, murder of his son, and the
rebellion and death of another son, his beloved Absalom, can be traced to this
episode of his life. Our unconfessed sin carries a burden with it that is often
hard to bear. Sometimes we have to understand that even though our sin is
forgiven its consequences can haunt and diminish our lives for decades.
Prison, suicides of loved ones, unwanted
pregnancies, abortions, serial fornication, adultery, repossessions,
foreclosures, lies, deceptions, and other things that can happen in a younger
person’s life typically bear bitter fruit, the taste of which stains their
lives for years to come. An important thing about David’s sin to remember is
that we should never put ourselves in a position where sin is likely to happen
as in David not going to war with his men and gazing at the woman on the rooftop.
2Samuel 12:15 ¶ And Nathan departed unto his house. And the
LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.
16 David therefore besought God for the
child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. 17 And the elders of his house arose, and
went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did
he eat bread with them. 18 And it came
to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David
feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the
child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our
voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?
19 But when David saw that his servants
whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto
his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. 20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed,
and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house
of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he
required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. 21 Then said his servants unto him, What thing is
this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it
was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread.
22 And he said, While the child was yet
alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be
gracious to me, that the child may live? 23
But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again?
I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. 24 And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and
went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name
Solomon: and the LORD loved him. 25 And
he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah,
because of the LORD.
David was persistent in prayer for the child
even though he had been told the child would die. He did not give up entreating
God to have mercy. This is a great lesson for us that even when someone seems
certain to die and we are burdened to pray for their deliverance from death
that we are not to give up but to earnestly pray in spite of the likely
outcome. As C.S. Lewis is purported to have said when asked why he was praying
for someone he loved who was most certainly going to die, and I am paraphrasing,
I’m not praying to change God’s mind.
I’m praying because it changes me.
In spite of a no answer to prayer Jesus gave
these parables in different contexts that suggest that we are to pray
persistently and determinedly and to expect something from it even if the
answer we receive is a spiritual rather than a physical blessing;
Luke 11:5
And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go
unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come
to me, and I have nothing to set before him? 7
And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now
shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. 8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and
give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise
and give him as many as he needeth. 9
And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall
find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he
that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that
is a father,will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish
give him a serpent? 12 Or if he shall
ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children:
how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
him?
Luke 18:1 ¶
And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to
pray, and not to faint; 2 Saying, There
was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: 3 And there was a widow in that city; and she
came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 4 And he would not for a while: but afterward
he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; 5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will
avenge her, lest by her
continual coming she weary me. 6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge
saith. 7 And shall not God avenge his
own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
8 I tell you that he will avenge them
speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the
earth?
Paul admonished Christians to pray
persistently.
Romans 12:12
Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
1Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
David’s situation teaches us yet another
valuable lesson about accepting God’s will. David knows that one day he will go
to be with the child in eternity but the child is not coming back to him, to
his own state of being. We must remember that for those we love who die in the
Lord. We will go to them one day but they will not be coming back to us. They
are ahead of us waiting for us to catch up. Our reunion lies in the future, in
eternity.
Now Solomon is conceived and is born as life
goes on regardless of our grief. Nathan calls him Jedidiah, beloved of the
Lord, linking Solomon Biblically to Messianic prophecy. Solomon means peace,
according to Strong’s.
Matthew 3:17
And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased.
Consider aspects of Solomon’s reign and the
millennial reign of Christ to come, in type, with all the limitations that
types are.
2Samuel 12:26 ¶ And Joab fought against Rabbah of the
children of Ammon, and took the royal city. 27
And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against
Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters. 28
Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against
the city, and take it: lest I take the city, and it be called after my name.
29 And David gathered all the people
together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it. 30 And he took their king’s crown from off his
head, the weight whereof was a talent of gold with the precious stones:
and it was set on David’s head. And he brought forth the spoil of the
city in great abundance. 31 And he
brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under
saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass
through the brickkiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of
Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.
Back to the campaign and how David has made
himself vulnerable to Joab. He makes a direct threat to David and David better
listen because he made Joab kill Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, with the sword of
the Ammonites to cover up the sin that David has committed. So often we find
that people put themselves in a tight situation by not confessing their sin and
trying to cover it up. When others know what you’ve done you will never be safe.
David is a bloody man and his fury and cruelty
in victory is remarkable. I think of the brutality of the Imperial Japanese
army and navy in World War II, remarkably brave and loyal but incredibly cruel
and vicious in victory.
Gill says that earlier commentators insisted
that not all the people were butchered in this way but only the counselors who
had advising that David’s messengers be humiliated.
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