Wednesday after the Seventh Sunday after Trinity Sunday

Scripture: 2 Samuel 12:1-23 (NKJV)

1 Then the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. 3 But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. 4 And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

5 So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! 6 And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”

7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! 9 Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. 10 Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.'”

13 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”

And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” 15 Then Nathan departed to his house.

And the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became ill. 16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 So the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18 Then on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child is dead? He may do some harm!”

19 When David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?”

And they said, “He is dead.”

20 So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate. 21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this 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 And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell 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 shall not return to me.”

Devotion

David was the man specially chosen by God to be king. The nations surrounding Israel were aware of David’s God, for David’’s enemies had been thwarted at every turn. But now David’s sin brought shame to the nation and gave “great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.”

Though the eternal consequences of David’s sin were gone because God had “put away” David’s sin, David would never be allowed to forget what he had done. From that time forward, David’s house would have perpetual trouble because “the sword shall never depart from [David’s] house.” In addition, David would always have the memory of the death of his child who was conceived in adultery.

As a pastor, I have had the occasion to minister to parents of a sick child. Mom and Dad both said, “I would take my child’s place in a heartbeat.” It was that sort of agony that plagued David. It wasn’t the child’s fault. David pleaded with God to spare the child, but as we know, the child died. David did all he could. He went without food and cried his eyes out. But the Word of the Lord must be allowed to stand.

The child died, yet the child was spared. The child would not have to endure living in a household where the sword was ever present. The child would not have to bear the burden of answering for the sins of his father because of the circumstances surrounding his conception. Indeed, at first glance it would appear that God wasn’t fair by allowing the death of the child. But as David attests, this child went on to eternal life with God, because David would one day “go to him.”

We pray: Lord, forgive us our trespasses. Amen.