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For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after
David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
22 He answered, While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, Who
knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live. 23 But now that he is
dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he
will not return to me.
24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her.
She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; 25 and
because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him
Jedidiah.
David put himself completely at Gods mercy. And we can see that God was merciful.
David was headed for complete destruction and his end would have been like Saul, but
God turned the situation around.
But I want to stop and give you a stern warning, not from myself, but from the Word of
God. Can you see the awful effects of sin? We must not despise God or underestimate the
consequences of sin. Sin destroys lives, it destroys the good plans that God has for us. It
will ruin your life and hurt those who are dearest to you.
David was more culpable than most. He was king of Israel, Gods chosen people. By
sinning in this way, David had shown contempt for God. We must realize the effect that
our sin has on others.
Luke 17:1-3
Jesus said to his disciples: Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but
woe to anyone through whom they come. 2 It would be better for them to be thrown into
the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to
stumble. 3 So watch yourselves.
Why is the Bible so terrifying when it describes the consequences of sin? Because God is
serious. He loves us and that is why He warns us so urgently. We should have a healthy
fear of sin. Some things can harm your body, but we are talking about much moreeven
your soul.
In this case, Davids son died because of what David did. David was confident that the
infant went to be with the Lord, and that he would see him again in heaven. In other
cases, we can see that God relents from a punishment because of peoples repentance, as
in the case of Nineveh, Hezekiah, and even David when he counted the fighting men in
Israel. If there is anyone in the universe who we can trust to make a right and merciful
judgment, it is God. David trusted the judgment of the Lord, though he also appealed to
Gods mercy. It is fine to ask mercy from God concerning the consequences of our sin.
Again, I want to emphasize that death and destruction are not Gods will. These things
happen because we disobey God.
Lastly, I want to point out that God gave David and Bathsheba another son, Solomon, and
that the prophet Nathan said that his name should be Jedidiah, which means loved by the
Lord.