2 Samuel 12:15-31

The facts are:

1 . The child born to David becoming very sick, he entreats God for its life by prayer and fasting.

2 . He persists in refusing the consolations which the elders of his household offer him.

3 . The child dying on the seventh day and David observing the whisperings of his servants, at once ascertains by direct inquiry the certainty of it.

4 . His servants noticing that, on ascertaining the fact of the child's death, he lays aside the tokens of grief and resumes his wonted manner, are amazed at his conduct.

5 . Whereupon he justifies his conduct, and intimates his expectation of some day going to the child.

6 . Bathsheba is comforted by David, and bears to him another son, Solomon.

7 . Joab, carrying on war against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and being about to bring the war to a conclusion, urges on David that he should come and enjoy the honour of taking the city.

8 . David, complying with this request, takes possession of Babbah, and acquires the king's crown with much spoil.

9 . He completes his conquest of the Ammonites by causing some of them to endure great sufferings.

Providence and natural affection.

The mercy of God to David was immediate, and it continued throughout his life; the judgment with which it was tempered was chiefly to come in days hence, but it began in the severe sickness of Bathsheba's child. It is not an unusual thing for a father to have to face the loss of an infant; in such cases natural affection will manifest itself in unmistakable forms. The extraordinary way in which David's feelings were excited by the apprehended death of this child is to be accounted for by reasons springing out of the peculiar circumstances of his position. These will appear as we proceed to consider the struggle between natural affection and the order of Providence.

I. THERE IS A CERTAIN REASONABLENESS IN THE PLEADING OF NATURAL AFFECTION AGAINST WHAT SEEMS TO BE THE ORDINATION OF GOD . The declaration of the prophet ( 2 Samuel 12:14 ), that the child should die, was accepted by David as an ordination of God, and the severe sickness which came on soon after Nathan's departure was interpreted by the king as the first stage in the execution of it. But David was not conscious of a rebellious spirit in the exhibition of such distress, and in such earnest entreaty that the intended cause of providential judgment might be averted. Human affection is as much a part of the order of Nature as is the law of gravity, and its spontaneous action is as natural as is the falling of a weight to the earth. Affection is nothing if it does not feel. There is no law requiring it to be annihilated, if that were possible, in presence of the inevitable. To the pious Hebrew all charges in nature were brought about by God; they were the outcome of his will, as surely as would be the death of this child according to the word of the prophet. Divine ordinations were silent and spoken. Yet the silent ordinations in daily providence were modified by prayer and to meet new conditions; and why, then, might not this spoken one be modified at the entreaty of an agonized parent? As a father, he could not help thinking of this infant as a severe sufferer in being deprived of the blessing of life through no fault of its own. If spared, the child might be a perpetual memorial of befitting sorrow and shame, and so would help to keep him lowly and penitent. Nor could he but feel for the poor woman cruelly sinned against, and whose grief would be consequent on her husband's sin. Moreover, precedents were not wanting in the case Of Abraham ( Genesis 18:20-33 ) and of Moses ( Exodus 32:30-35 ), in which men pleaded against what seemed to be inevitable. Subsequent to David's time, we know that men were permitted to pray against the apparently inevitable ( Joel 2:12-14 ). Our Saviour gave utterance to human sensibility when he prayed that, if possible, the cup might pass from him. God has never expressed displeasure at the utterance of the sorrows which spring from natural affection, for feelings often struggle thus with the course of providence. Stoicism has no place in Christianity. The physical order is subordinate to the moral.

II. INTENSE FEELING IS REASONABLE WHERE OUR SINS HAVE TO DO WITH THE ANTICIPATED DISASTER . The intensity of David's anguish arose, not from the fact that he was a father, but from the knowledge he had that the providence that was bringing death to his child was connected with his own sin. That another should suffer for his sin, and this other a little child, was indeed a bitter reason for pleading with God. Although the course of providence, which connects the suffering of offspring with the sins of parents, is in the widest moral bearings of the fact, both just and merciful, yet it is not always seen to be so. Nevertheless, the great anguish of the evil doer on that account is not a protest so much as a lament over his own sin, and a prayer that, if possible, this organic issue of sin may, by some intervention, be prevented or modified. The educational value of that feeling on the life of a repentant sinner is of great worth in itself, and really leads to the formation of a character that shall, in the order of providence, do much to lessen the evils that otherwise would arise.

III. THE RESORT OF NATURAL AFFECTION WHEN STRUGGLING AGAINST THE ORDER OF PROVIDENCE IS TO GOD . A great change had recently come over David. The alienation of the backsliding heart was gone. As of old, so he now brings his sorrows and troubles to his God. The overwhelmed heart flies to the Rock that is high. He sits not with the scornful, mocking at the ways of Providence, and seeing evil where only there is mysterious judgment. The best and tenderest feelings of human nature, where sanctified by the spirit of piety, turn instinctively to God for help, and they find prayer as the form in Which their yearnings are expressed. Some men fancy that they only see and feel the apparent severities of the providential order, and that sullen vexation and displeasure ate the only appropriate conditions of mind in relation to it. Christians see and feel quite as much, but their bruised spirit finds refuge in him who ordains all in justice and mercy, and implores him, so far as may be wise and good, to let the penitent, entreating heart count for something among the elements which determine the ultimate issues.

IV. WHEN THE COURSE OF PROVIDENCE IS FOUND TO BE UNALTERABLE , NATURAL AFFECTION IS SUBORDINATED TO THE HIGHER PRINCIPLE OF ACQUIESCENCE IN THE WILL OF GOD . David was right in feeling as he did, in expressing his feeling in earnest prayer, in waiting as long as there was hope of reversal of the sentence. He acted as a father, as a husband, as a penitent. But when once the human desire and human view of wisdom and kindness were proved, by accomplished fact, not to be in accord with Divine wisdom, then, as became a trustful, restored child of God, David ceased to plead and to be in anguish. "Not my will, bat thine be done!" was the spirit of his action. It was his duty and privilege now to rest in the Lord, and believe that he will bring to pass the kindest and wisest issue. The death of the child is accepted as the best thing, and the evils once supposed to issue from the event are now believed to be qualified by a love which maketh all things work together for good. It is the sign of an enlightened mind when a man can thus rise from his griefs, and conform his mental and moral-and social life to the unalterable will of God. It takes time for a good man to recover from the natural, and, therefore, reasonable, outflow of his feelings; but when he does recover, he retains all the sanctity and softening influence of his anguish in combination with a calm spirit, concerned now in ministering to the consolation of others ( 2 Samuel 12:24 ), and cheered by the hope of a time when the breaches caused by sin will be healed ( 2 Samuel 12:23 ).

GENERAL LESSONS .

1 . It becomes us to regard all death in our homes as connected with sin, and we should always give due weight to its moral causes in our consideration of the course of providence.

2 . There may exist high moral reasons why intense earnestness in prayer is not always successful; and yet it may be true that God does answer fervent prayer.

3 . Men not familiar with the secret life of a Christian are not in a position to understand his conduct on special occasions, just as David's servants could not understand his conduct in relation to the death of the child.

4 . We should avail ourselves of such light concerning the future as may be vouchsafed, in order to obtain consolation amidst the bereavements of life ( 2 Samuel 12:23 ).

5 . The doctrine of recognition in heaven is certainly in accord with sanctified instincts, and may be held as variously hinted at in Scripture ( 2 Samuel 12:23 ; cf. Matthew 17:3 , Matthew 17:4 ; 1 Thessalonians 2:19 ).

Tokens of restoration.

In 2 Samuel 12:23 , 2 Samuel 12:24 we have two statements which incidentally reveal the reality and completeness of the restoration of the fallen king to the favour and care of God.

I. THAT RESTORATION TO GOD AFTER A FALL IS A REALITY . It is not a state rendered problematical by the observance of conditions extending over a long period. David was at peace with God, and God did regard him with unqualified favour. Old things had passed away—the displeasure of God, the fear and apprehension of the man; the relation of complacent delight and tender care on the one side, and filial love and trust on the other, was now complete. It is important to keep this truth clear. It is bound up with the great doctrine of justification. God once accepting and forgiving a sinner becomes and remains to him a gracious God, forgetting all the past and cherishing only love and tender interest. It is a misreading of the gospel, and implies an ignorance of the most blessed Christian experience to imagine that a really forgiven one is kept in suspense and dread, or that God is holding back the fulness of his favour till we have repented a little more, or more fully perfected our general life. We are accepted in Christ. When he "restoreth" our "soul" ( Psalms 23:3 ), it is actual, not possible, germinal restoration.

II. THAT THE TOKENS OF RESTORATION VARY ACCORDING TO CIRCUMSTANCES , The inward token in David's case was the assured peace of a conscience purged by the grace of God ( Psalms 51:7-10 , Psalms 51:12 ), which came in answer to his penitential cry. The outward token was the life of another child, the peaceful order of the kingdom, and especially this welcome message of the prophet ( 2 Samuel 12:25 ). The reality of restoration was known as soon as the almighty word of pardon was spoken, the confirmatory signs of it—to strengthen the heart and ward off subtle temptations of the evil one-came in process of time. No doubt fallen Peter found pardon during the dark night of his penitence; but the outward token, which was also an instruction to the other disciples not to distrust and shun him, came in the gracious message of the angel of the Lord, "Tell his disciples, and Peter" ( Mark 16:7 ), and again in the exhortation and encouragement given in the presence of those who might otherwise have distrusted him, "Feed my sheep" ( John 21:15-17 ). The ordinary sign of full restoration is in the "witness of the Spirit" ( Romans 8:14-16 ), and the outward care and blessing vouchsafed to our work of faith and labour of love ( John 15:7 , John 15:8 ). God will be sure to give his people some "token for good" ( Psalms 86:17 ).

III. THAT SIGNS OF GOD 'S FAVOUR SHOULD BE GIVEN IS AN ILLUSTRATION OF HIS WONDERFUL CONSIDERATION FOR HIS PEOPLE . There is something truly wonderful in this grace shown to David. Not only is he forgiven and treated in all things spiritual as though he had not sinned; not only permitted to reign over Israel, and enter into close, though it may be very subdued, fellowship with God; but God goes, as it were, out of the ordinary course of providence, and sends a messenger to give him, in this other name for his child, a special sign of full restoration. Thus the occasional doubts suggested by the evil one, the possible distrust of the prophet in Israel and those under him, and the sneers of the profane, are all anticipated by the love that slumbers not and that cares most tenderly and minutely for all the need of the reconciled ones. "How excellent is thy loving kindness, O God!" ( Psalms 36:7 ); "He is rich in mercy, and plenteous in redemption."

Rabbah's lesson to mankind. The fall of David occurred while the war was going on under Joab ( 2 Samuel 11:1 , 2 Samuel 11:7 , 2 Samuel 11:25 ). It is probable that, as the historian began to tell the story of the fall, he thought well to finish it, with the account of the restoration, before he took up again the account of the campaign being carried on against the Ammonites. We shall assume, therefore, that the fall of Rabbah referred to in 2 Samuel 12:26-31 took place in the interval between the sin of David and the birth of Solomon ( 2 Samuel 12:24 ). The narrative is inserted here doubtless with the primary design of completing the history of David's wars, and thus keeping up the continuity of his exploits. But as all Scripture is written for our learning, we may notice a few incidental lessons suggested by the capture of the city of Rabbah.

I. A GOOD MAN 'S FALL INTO SIN UNFITS HIM FOR MANY OF THE DUTIES OF HIS DAILY LIFE . Joab was not only left to carry on the war alone, but he even felt it to be right ( 2 Samuel 12:28 ) to stir up the king that he might come and take part, and so share in the honour about to be won. The secret of this most probably lay in the fact that, during and after David's entanglement with Bathsheba and crime against Uriah, he was not in a mind to enter upon the perils of war. A woman's spell was on him; his conscience was secretly troubled; he who feared not the lion or the giant now fears lest, if he go to the war, he should be slain. Therefore he tarries in Jerusalem ( 2 Samuel 11:1-25 ). His sins rendered him incompetent to do what otherwise he would have done, and it required even an urgent request from his general, coupled with an assurance that the city was virtually captured already ( 2 Samuel 12:27-29 ), to induce him to move. There are sins which sometimes drive men to desperate deeds and perilous places, and give apparently more zest to life; but in the case of good men, a known habit of sin impairs their energy in life; it creates an abiding fear; it paralyzes certain incumbent moral actions; it keeps from entering on work which otherwise would be cheerfully undertaken; it makes him less a man.

II. THOSE WHO DO DELIBERATE DEEDS OF WRONG TO OTHERS COURT AN INFLICTION ON THEMSELVES OF SIMILAR EVILS . This account of the infliction of tortures on the Ammonites ( 2 Samuel 12:31 ) is the first instance in Hebrew history of such a deed, and it seems strange that David should have ordered it. But without justifying the retaliation, the point here to be noted is that the Ammonites laid themselves open to such treatment by their own actions. They had proposed barbarous conditions of servitude to men of Israel in the time of trouble ( 1 Samuel 11:1 , 1 Samuel 11:2 ) and they had cruelly insulted David's ambassadors ( 2 Samuel 10:1-6 ). It is also probable that in this protracted war they may have carried out these barbarous tendencies towards prisoners taken in war. They thus, by deeds of cruelty, sought for deeds of cruelty to themselves in their day of defeat. There is doubtless a principle of retaliation in kind recognizable in the law of nature. As a man soweth so he reapeth. What they do to others they so far justify others to do to them, that they have set an example and are incapable of protest. In some guarded form this principle enters into human law, national and international. In the Mosaic code it received specific illustration ( Exodus 21:22-25 ). Whether David was right or wrong, the Ammonites courted torture by evil deeds, as men now court evil from their imperfect fellow men by evil deeds to them. The harsh employer courts distrust and injury from the employes. Tyrannical rulers court plots, conspiracies, and possibly assassinations, from oppressed subjects.

III. THERE ARE PROPHETIC SYMBOLS OF HONOUR FALLING ON THE RIGHT HEAD . It was, perhaps, on the part of Joab and the army, a mere feat of military triumph to place the heavy crown of the Ammonite god (for so we take it to be) on the head of David; but it was suggestive at the time to all spectators of the honours that ought to come, and in course of years were coming, on One who was the Anointed of the Lord. And to us it seems to suggest the ultimate passing of all highest honours, long usurped, to him whose right it is to reign, and who is not only said to be worthy of all honours ( Revelation 4:11 ; Revelation 5:12 , Revelation 5:13 ), but is so gradually acquiring them that he at last shall be crowned with many crowns ( Hebrews 2:9 ; Revelation 4:10 ; Revelation 19:12 ). In the triumph of every good man over evil, we see a symbolic intimation of the final triumph of the Son of man over all enemies ( 1 Corinthians 15:25 ). In the distinction awarded to any of Christ's servants, who are really his representatives in the world, because of the destruction of some monstrous evil, we have a symbolic representation of the glory and honour that will come on the head of the great Deliverer, when to him every knee shall bow, and the last enemy shall have been destroyed. Faith can see coming victories in passing events.

IV. THE EDUCATION OF THE CONSCIENCE IN HUMAN RELATIONS IS VERY SLOW . The principle of retaliation is in all legal punishments (division I.), but the application of the principle is a matter of judgment, and the judgment depends on the culture of the conscience. There are coordinate powers in human nature. The feeling of benevolence has a place as truly as a sense of justice. It depends on the degree in which conscience is cultivated as to whether the rigid carrying out of what justice may seem to demand, i.e. the spirit of retaliation in the name of love, not of self, should be tempered by kindly consideration, and to what extent. Probably David at this time was in the degenerate mood of mind brought on by his fall, and therefore restive and harsh, as men are when the heart is corroded by guilt. But at all events, in those times there was not that fine sense of delicacy in regard to human suffering as now. The same mental and moral condition prevailed during the ages of persecution for religion. Romanists and Protestants did once what now their descendants would be shocked at. It is a defective education of conscience which enables men to live in careless ease and luxury while thousands are lacking food. Christ only was perfect Man. If all were like him, every consideration would be paid to human feeling in the administration of justice, and in the private relations of life.

HOMILIES BY B. DALE