“After Nathan returned to his home, the Lord sent a deadly illness to the child of David and Uriah’s wife. David begged God to spare the child. He went without food and lay all night on the bare ground. The elders of his household pleaded with him to get up and eat with them, but he refused. Then on the seventh day the child died. David’s advisers were afraid to tell him. “He wouldn’t listen to reason while the child was ill,” they said. “What drastic thing will he do when we tell him the child is dead?” When David saw them whispering, he realized what had happened. “Is the child dead?” he asked. “Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.” Then David got up from the ground, washed himself, put on lotions, and changed his clothes. He went to the Tabernacle and worshiped the Lord. After that, he returned to the palace and was served food and ate. His advisers were amazed. “We don’t understand you,” they told him. “While the child was still living, you wept and refused to eat. But now that the child is dead, you have stopped your mourning and are eating again.” David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live.’ But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.” Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and David named him Solomon. The Lord loved the child and sent word through Nathan the prophet that they should name him Jedidiah (which means “beloved of the Lord”), as the Lord had commanded.”
2 Samuel 12:15-25 NLT
It can be tempting to blame God for our consequences. This type of blame shifting harkens all the way back to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. But the truth is that we are responsible for all the wrong that we do. When God disciplines us, it is right for him to do so. This is a truth that David understood. Here we see that he understood it well enough to know that though it was worth his time to plead with God to spare the child’s life, it was not worth his time to stew over the final result. Here David displayed a remarkable amount of faith. Firstly, he understood that the outcome was the right one, based simply on the fact that he accepted it so quickly. Secondly, he placed faith in the truth that his child was in a better place. He knew that he would one day go to be with his child in God’s presence. His actions and the consequences that were still to come were something to be mourned, but the death of his child was certainly the right decision in David’s mind. We too must face our consequences head-on and resolve to ourselves to praise God, strengthen our faith in him, and rise from our time of mourning and grieving to emphasize a renewed future in God. Mourn but also praise and move forward.
Responsibility for Actions: Individuals are responsible for their actions and the consequences that follow.
God’s Discipline: God’s discipline is just and should be accepted.
Faith and Acceptance: David demonstrated faith by accepting God’s judgment and finding peace in the knowledge that his child was in a better place.
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