Today's treasure: 2 Samuel 12:24
In what ways did David respond to his child's sudden illness?
Read David's immediate response in verse 20.
What was God's attitude toward David and Bathsheba's second child?
Nathan had hardly turned the doorknob to leave before David's child fell ill. David had been warned that his son would die, and still he "pleaded with God for the child" for seven days. When the child died, the servants were terrified David would do something desperate. They were stunned when David received the news, got up, washed his face, changed clothes and went into the house of the Lord and worshipped.
Did David waster his time pleading with God over the life of the child? After all, God's message through Nathan was painfully clear. As we attempt to determine whether David's efforts were wasted, we have the privilege to peek at just a little of the intense intimacy David shared with God. When he fell on his face before God, the prodigal returned home to the place he belonged. He was bankrupt in soul, demoralized, and terrified, but he was back. Too many months had passed since he had last entered into God's presence.
Through David's crisis, he was reminded of all he knew of God's ways. David did not plead with God out of ignorance but out of his intimate knowledge of God. God does indeed hear our prayers and reserves the right to relent if the change does not compromise an eternal necessity.
David knew something about his God that we need to realize as well. God did not create man in His own image to be unaffected by Him. We are products of His heart. The God of Scripture is One who feels.
Unlike us, God is never compromised by His feelings, but He does care.
David's painful please forced him back to a crucial place of depending on God. 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 we depend on Him because only He can keep us safe. When we seek security in other places, He is obligated to turn us back toward home. Tragedy caused David to depend on God. God's judgment seems harsh until we reconsider David's many transgressions.
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 Jas. 4:2)
In our relationship with God, we must feel freedom to bring the desires of our heart to Him in prayer.
David's please ultimately ensured his survival through the tragedy he and his wife would suffer. The return positioned him to make it through such loss with victory. 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.
Do you remember ever returning to the Lord in worship after a painful loss you believe He could have stopped?
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? 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: "Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him, and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah" (2 Samuel 12:24-25)
Out of grace God removed the curse on the sinful union of David and Bathsheba. Their union had been wrong. Their motive wrong. Now we see them drawn together by terrible tragedy. God removed the curse of their marriage and brought a child from the union. Jedidiah means "beloved of the Lord"
God never turns His back on us. He will discipline but not forsake us. He will always seek to draw us back to a place where He can bless us once more.
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