Commentary - 2 Samuel 12:15-23

Bird's-eye view

Here we come to the bitter fruit of David's sin. Though he was forgiven upon his confession to Nathan (2 Sam. 12:13), the Lord made it clear that the consequences of his actions would not be erased. The sword would not depart from his house, and this child, conceived in adultery and treachery, would die. This passage is a masterful depiction of how a truly repentant man navigates the severe and painful discipline of a sovereign God. We see David move from desperate, prostrate intercession to clean, upright worship. His actions, which baffle his servants, provide a paradigm for Christian piety in the face of heart-rending loss. The central lesson is this: we are to plead with God while the trial is ongoing, but we are to submit to and worship God once His final verdict has been rendered.

Outline

Commentary

15b Then Yahweh smote the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, so that he was very sick.

The text is blunt and leaves no room for ambiguity. This was not a random illness or a tragic accident. Yahweh smote the child. God is the direct actor. This is the fulfillment of the prophetic word from Nathan. We must not flinch from this. Our God is sovereign over the womb, over the nursery, and over the grave. This is a severe providence, a painful judgment, but it is a judgment nonetheless. It is the earthly consequence of David's heinous sin. Forgiveness of the eternal penalty does not always mean the removal of all temporal consequences. God is disciplining His son, and the discipline is sharp.

16 David therefore sought God about the boy; and David fasted and went and spent the night lying on the ground. 17 And the elders of his household stood beside him in order to raise him up from the ground, but he was unwilling and would not eat food with them.

David's reaction is not one of sullen resignation. It is one of active, desperate, and humble intercession. He sought God. The word implies a vigorous, earnest seeking. He employs the outward forms that accompany such a spiritual exercise: fasting, prostration. He lies on the ground all night, a posture of complete humility and submission before the God who held the child's life in His hands. The elders of his house try to comfort him with conventional solace, to get him up, to get him to eat. But David is engaged in a transaction with Heaven, and he will not be moved. This is not a show. This is a father wrestling in prayer for the life of his son, pleading for mercy from the very God who afflicted him.

18 Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died. And the servants of David 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 our voice. How then can we tell him that the child has died? He might do himself harm!”

The seventh day arrives, a number often associated with completion or perfection in Scripture. The period of wrestling is over. The servants now face a dilemma. Their reasoning is perfectly logical from a worldly perspective. If David was this undone while there was still a shred of hope, what will he be like when that hope is extinguished? They fear he will descend into a grief so profound it might lead him to self-harm. Their concern is born of affection for their king, but their understanding is carnal. They are about to be shown the difference between the logic of sight and the logic of faith.

19 And David saw that his servants were whispering together, so David discerned that the child had died; so David said to his servants, “Has the child died?” And they said, “He has died.”

David, the seasoned leader of men, is perceptive. He reads the room. He sees the whispering and understands immediately. He does not wait for them to muster the courage to tell him. He meets the hard providence head-on. He asks the direct question, forcing the issue into the open. He is not a man who hides from reality, however painful. Their simple, stark reply confirms it: "He has died." The verdict is in.

20 So David arose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he came into the house of Yahweh and worshiped. Then he came to his own house, and he asked, and they set food before him, and he ate.

This is the pivot of the entire passage, and one of the most profound displays of true piety in all the Old Testament. The servants expected a collapse; what they witnessed was a resurrection. Notice the sequence. David arose from the ground, the place of his pleading. He washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes, actions that signify the end of mourning and the resumption of normal life. But where does he go first? Not to the dinner table, but to the house of Yahweh. And what does he do there? He worshiped. Before anything else, he acknowledged the sovereignty and righteousness of the God who had just taken his son. This is submission of the highest order. He is saying, "You are God. You gave, and You have taken away. Blessed be Your name." Only after rendering worship to God does he return to his own house and attend to his own needs.

21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”

The servants are utterly bewildered. David's behavior is the complete opposite of what they, and the world, would expect. Their question is honest. They cannot compute his actions. "What is this thing?" It is a thing of another world, a response governed by a different set of principles. They need a theological education, and David is about to provide it.

22 Then he said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows, Yahweh may be gracious to me, that the child may live.’

Here is the first part of his divine logic. While there was life, there was an opportunity to appeal for mercy. Fasting and weeping were appropriate expressions of his earnest plea. His prayer was not a demand, but a humble appeal based on the character of God. "Who knows, Yahweh may be gracious to me." This is the posture of a creature before the Creator. It acknowledges God's freedom. God was not obligated to spare the child, but He is a merciful God, and so David asked. He was acting in faith, using the means God provides for seeking His face.

23 But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

Here is the second part of his logic. Once God's will was made final, the season for petition was over. To continue fasting and weeping would no longer be an act of humble petition but an act of protest against a settled divine decree. It would be rebellion. David accepts the finality of God's decision. And then, out of this acceptance, comes a magnificent statement of faith. "I will go to him, but he will not return to me." This is not a statement of despair, but of hope. David, in the midst of his grief, affirms his belief in a personal afterlife and his confidence that this covenant child is there, waiting for him. He knows he will be reunited with his son in the presence of the Lord. This is the anchor that allows him to wash his face, worship God, and eat bread. It is the hope of the resurrection that gives him stability in the valley of the shadow of death.

Application

The pattern David sets here is one for all believers to follow when navigating the deep waters of affliction and loss. First, while a trial is ongoing, we are to pray, to fast, to seek the Lord's face with all our might. We should plead for His mercy, for deliverance, for healing, always with the humble submission of "Who knows? Perhaps the Lord will be gracious." We are to wrestle and not give up.

But second, when God's will becomes final, when the loved one is taken, when the door is shut, the season for that kind of petition is over. The time has come to arise, to wash our faces, and to go to the house of the Lord and worship. Our worship is the ultimate expression of our trust in His sovereignty and goodness, even when His providences are painful and mysterious to us. To continue in a state of protest is to accuse God of wrongdoing. To submit in worship is to confess that the Judge of all the earth has done right.

Finally, our worship is fueled by the same hope David had, a hope now made crystal clear in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. David looked forward to going to his son. We look forward to the great resurrection, when we will not only go to be with them, but they, along with us, will receive glorified bodies and will return with the Lord to the new heavens and the new earth. This is our settled hope, and it is this hope that enables us to eat our bread with a sorrowful but sanctified heart.