Word of Encouragement (11/02/2023)
David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them.... 21 Then his servants said to him, "What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food." 22 He said, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, 'Who knows whether the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?' 23 But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me." 24 Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went in to her and lay with her, and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. And the LORD loved him.... (2 Sam. 12:16-17, 21-24)
Yesterday, we started talking about why David’s fast and prayer was not an act of rebellion against God’s decree. For one, God did not rebuke David, as He did Moses when he persistently asked the LORD to allow him into the promised land.
We also notice that David fasted and prayed only while his son was alive. When he learned of his son’s death, he stopped praying and broke his fast. He accepted his son’s death, which God announced, without complaining or becoming bitter. He confessed in Ps. 51, which he wrote about this whole affair, “...I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment” (Ps. 51:4). David loved his son. The thought of his son dying must have been horrifying beyond imagination. But he did not make his son an idol. God is the Lord of life. It is He who gives life to all. Because He gave, He can also take away what He gave as the Judge of the living and the dead. And since God is just, we can humbly acknowledge that David’s son did not just die for David’s sin. David confessed, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Ps. 51:5).
Even though God made His judgment clear, David appealed to the greatness of God’s mercy to relent and spare his son: “'Who knows whether the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?” This is the same line of thought the Ninevites and their king had when Jonah announced God’s coming judgment on them in forty days: “Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish” (Jonah 3:9). In that case, God relented and spared their lives.
Here, we see that we cannot confine God to a formula and expect Him to respond in the same way when we do certain things. He does all things according to the counsel of His will, which is not only just and good but also inscrutable. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts,” says the LORD.
We should accept God’s will, trusting in His wisdom and goodness toward us. “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” (Heb. 12:6). But we all know that there are times when His discipline seems too heavy to bear. There is nothing wrong with pleading with God to be merciful to us and relent. Who knows since God is great in His mercy and abundant in His kindness? But we must be sure to submit to God’s will in the end instead of making what we want “a deal breaker” with God. We may not see the goodness of His will at the moment, but we will in His time. Although God took away the son, He gave David and Bathsheba another son—Solomon, who was the wisest of all Israel’s kings, and ultimately Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world!