2 Samuel 12:15b-23
15b Later the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s widow bore to David, so that he was very sick.
16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child; and David fasted and went and lay all night on the ground.
17 The elders of his household stood beside him in order to help him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat food with them.
18 Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died. And David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he did not listen to us. How then can we tell him that the child is dead, since he might do himself harm?”
19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; so David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.”
20 So David got up from the ground, washed, 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 asked, they served him food, and he ate.
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 got up and ate food.”
22 And he said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, and the child may live.’
23 But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I am going to him, but he will not return to me.”
The Death of a Child
David fasts
(1) The child that Bathsheba bore to David became ill. The child became ill because he was struck by the Lord. (2) David knew that this illness was from the Lord, yet he earnestly sought healing for the child through prayer. Knowing that the child was about to die because of his own sin, David must have been in great agony. He fasted, prayed through the night, and lay on the ground, continually pleading with God. (3) The elders (court officials), concerned by what they saw, tried to persuade David to stop fasting, but he would not get up, nor would he eat with them. (4) The seven days leading up to the child’s death became a time for David to deepen his repentance.
David ends his fast
The child died on the seventh day. (1) The servants hesitated to bring the news of the child’s death to David. Even while the child was alive, David had been afflicting himself. If he were to hear that the child had died, he might harm himself or even take his own life. (2) Before the servants reported it, David sensed by their behavior that the child had died. He got up, washed himself, then worshiped the Lord, and afterward took a meal. (3) When the surprised servants asked the reason, David replied that he had earnestly prayed seeking the Lord’s mercy, but now that the child had died, this solemn reality must be accepted as it is. As a man of faith, he chose to quietly accept the Lord’s dealing with him. Why did the child have to die because of David’s sin? The more we think about it, the more questions arise. David himself must have wrestled with such questions. I, too, have no answer. Life holds many unanswerable questions. We may feel the urge to keep asking “why,” but doing so can become an obstacle to moving forward. What a believer must do is to confess that all of God’s dealings are righteous and to quietly accept the situation. Peter teaches in 1 Peter 5:7, “Having cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares about you.”
Today's prayer
Almighty and all-knowing God, everything You do is for the best. Even if I do not understand now, one day I surely will. Please give me the faith to quietly accept it. I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.