II
S A M U E L
CHAP. XII.
The
foregoing chapter gave us the account of David's sin; this gives us the
account of his repentance. Though he fell, he was not utterly cast down, but,
by the grace of God, recovered himself, and found mercy with God. Here is, I.
His conviction, by a message Nathan brought him from God, which was a parable
that obliged him to condemn himself (ver. 1-6), and the application of the
parable, in which Nathan charged him with the sin (ver. 7-9) and pronounced
sentence upon him,, ver. 10-12. II. His repentance and remission, with a
proviso, ver. 13, 14. III. The sickness and death of the child, and his
behaviour while it was sick and when it was dead (ver. 15-23), in both which
David gave evidence of his repentance. IV. The birth of Solomon, and God's
gracious message concerning him, in which God gave an evidence of his
reconciliation to David, ver. 24, 25. V. The taking of Rabbah (ver. 26-31),
which is mentioned as a further instance that God did not deal with David
according to his sins.
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Nathan's Parable; David's Repentance.
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B. C. 1036.
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1
And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him,
There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: 3 But
the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought
and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it
did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and
was unto him as a daughter. 4 And there came a traveller unto the
rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress
for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb,
and dressed it for the man that was come to him. 5 And David's
anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As
the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely
die: 6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this
thing, and because he had no pity. 7 And Nathan said to David,
Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD
God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of
the hand of Saul; 8 And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy
master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah;
and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee
such and such things. 9 Wherefore hast thou despised the
commandment of the LORD, to do
evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast
taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the
children of Ammon. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart
from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of
Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. 11 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house,
and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy
neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all
Israel, and before the sun. 13 And David said unto Nathan, I have
sinned against the LORD.
And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. 14
Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of
the LORD
to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
It seems to have been a great while after David had been guilty of adultery
with Bath-sheba before he was brought to repentance for it. For, when Nathan
was sent to him, the child was born (v. 14), so that it was about nine
months that David lay under the guilt of that sin, and, for aught that
appears, unrepented of. What shall we think of David's state all this while?
Can we imagine that his heart never smote him for it, or that he never
lamented it in secret before God? I would willingly hope that he did, and that
Nathan was sent to him, immediately upon the birth of the child, when the
thing by that means came to be publicly known and talked of, to draw from him
an open confession of the sin, to the glory of God, the admonition of others,
and that he might receive, by Nathan, absolution with certain limitations.
But, during these nine months, we may well suppose his comforts and the
exercises of his graces suspended, and his communion with God interrupted;
during all that time, it is certain, he penned no psalms, his harp was out of
tune, and his soul like a tree in winter, that has life in the root only.
Therefore, after Nathan had been with him, he prays, Restore unto me the
joy of thy salvation, and open thou my lips, Ps. li. 12, 15. Let us
observe,
I. The messenger God sent to him. We were told by the last words of the
foregoing chapter that the thing David had done displeased the Lord, upon
which, one would think, it should have followed that the Lord sent enemies to
invade him, terrors to take hold on him, and the messengers of death to arrest
him. No, he sent a prophet to him--Nathan, his faithful friend and confidant,
to instruct and counsel him, v. 1. David did not send for Nathan
(though he had never had so much occasion as he had now for his confessor),
but God sent Nathan to David. Note, Though God may suffer his people to fall
into sin, he will not suffer them to lie still in it. He went on frowardly
in the way of his heart, and if left to himself, would have wandered
endlessly, but (saith God) I have seen his ways, and will heal him, Isa.
lvii. 17, 18. He sends after us before we seek after him, else we should
certainly be lost. Nathan was the prophet by whom God had sent him notice of
his kind intentions towards him (ch. vii. 4), and now, by the same
hand, he sends him this message of wrath. God's word in the mouth of his
ministers must be received, whether it speak terror or comfort. Nathan was
obedient to the heavenly vision, and went on God's errand to David. He did not
say, "David has sinned, I will not come near him." No; count him
not an enemy, but admonish him as a brother, 2 Thess. iii. 15. He did not
say, "David is a king, I dare not reprove him." No; if God sends
him, he sets his face like a flint, Isa. l. 7.
II. The message Nathan delivered to him, in order to his conviction.
1. He fetched a compass with a parable, which seemed to David as a complaint
made to him by Nathan against one of his subjects that had wronged his poor
neighbour, in order to his redressing the injury and punishing the injurious.
Nathan, it is likely, used to come to him upon such errands, which made this
the less suspected. It becomes those who have interest in princes, and have
free access to them, to intercede for those that are wronged, that they may
have justice done them. (1.) Nathan represented to David a grievous injury
which a rich man had done to an honest neighbour that was not able to contend
with him: The rich man had many flocks and herds (v. 2); the
poor man had one lamb only; so unequally is the world divided; and yet
infinite wisdom, righteousness, and goodness, make the distribution, that the
rich may learn charity and the poor contentment. This poor man had but one
lamb, a ewe-lamb, a little ewe-lamb, having not wherewithal to buy or keep
more. But it was a cade--lamb (as we call it); it grew up with his
children, v. 3. He was fond of it, and it was familiar with him at
all times. The rich man, having occasion for a lamb to entertain a friend
with, took the poor man's lamb from him by violence and made use of that (v.
4), either out of covetousness, because he grudged to make use of his own, or
rather out of luxury, because he fancied the lamb that was thus tenderly kept,
and ate and drank like a child, must needs be more delicate food than any of
his own and have a better relish. (2.) In this he showed him the evil of the
sin he had been guilty of in defiling Bath-sheba. He had many wives and
concubines, whom he kept at a distance, as rich men keep their flocks in their
fields. Had he had but one, and had she been dear to him, as the ewe-lamb was
to its owner, had she been dear to him as the loving hind and the pleasant
roe, her breasts would have satisfied him at all times, and he would have
looked no further, Prov. v. 19. Marriage is a remedy against fornication, but
marrying many is not; for, when once the law of unity is transgressed, the
indulged lust will hardly stint itself. Uriah, like the poor man, had only one
wife, who was to him as his own soul, and always lay in his bosom, for he had
no other, he desired no other, to lie there. The traveller or wayfaring man
was, as bishop Patrick explains it from the Jewish writers, the evil
imagination, disposition, or desire, which came into David's heart, which he
might have satisfied with some of his own, yet nothing would serve but Uriah's
darling. They observe that this evil disposition is called a traveller, for in
the beginning it is only so, but, in time, it becomes a guest, and, in
conclusion, is master of the house. For he that is called a traveller in the
beginning of the verse is called a man (ish--a husband) in the close of
it. Yet some observe that in David's breast lust was but as a wayfaring man
that tarries only for a night; it did not constantly dwell and rule there.
(3.) By this parable he drew from David a sentence against himself. For David
supposing it to be a case in fact, and not doubting the truth of it when he
had it from Nathan himself, gave judgment immediately against the offender,
and confirmed it with an oath, v. 5, 6. [1.] That, for his injustice in
taking away the lamb, he should restore four-fold, according to the law (Exod.
xxii. 1), four sheep for a sheep. [2.] That for his tyranny and
cruelty, and the pleasure he took in abusing a poor man, he should be put to
death. If a poor man steal from a rich man, to satisfy his soul when he is
hungry, he shall make restitution, though it cost him all the substance of
his house, Prov. vi. 30, 31 (and Solomon there compares the sin of
adultery with that, v. 32); but if a rich man steal for stealing sake,
not for want but wantonness, merely that he may be imperious and vexatious, he
deserves to die for it, for to him the making of restitution is no punishment,
or next to none. If the sentence be thought too severe, it must be imputed to
the present roughness of David's temper, being under guilt, and not having
himself as yet received mercy.
2. He closed in with him, at length, in the application of the parable. In
beginning with a parable he showed his prudence, and great need there is of
prudence in giving reproofs. It is well managed if, as here, the offender can
be brought ere he is aware, to convict and condemn himself. But here, in his
application, he shows his faithfulness, and deals as plainly and roundly with
king David himself as if he had been a common person. In plain terms, "Thou
art the man who hast done this wrong, and a much greater, to thy
neighbour; and therefore, by thy own sentence, thou deservest to die, and
shalt be judged out of thy own mouth. Did he deserve to die who took his
neighbour's lamb? and dost not thou who hast taken thy neighbour's wife?
Though he took the lamb, he did not cause the owner thereof to lose his life,
as thou hast done, and therefore much more art thou worthy to die." Now
he speaks immediately from God, and in his name. He begins with, Thus saith
the Lord God of Israel, a name sacred and venerable to David, and which
commanded his attention. Nathan now speaks, not as a petitioner for a poor
man, but as an ambassador from the great God, with whom is no respect of
persons.
(1.) God, by Nathan, reminds David of the great things he had done and
designed for him, anointing him to be king, and preserving him to the kingdom
(v. 7), giving him power over the house and household of his
predecessor, and of others that had been his masters, Nabal for one. He had
given him the house of Israel and Judah. The wealth of the kingdom was at his
service and every body was willing to oblige him. Nay, he was ready to bestow
any thing upon him to make him easy: I would have given thee such and such
things, v. 8. See how liberal God is in his gifts; we are not
straitened in him. Where he has given much, yet he gives more. And God's
bounty to us is a great aggravation of our discontent and desire of forbidden
fruit. It is ungrateful to covet what God has prohibited, while we have
liberty to pray for what God has promised, and that is enough.
(2.) He charges him with a high contempt of the divine authority, in the sins
he had been guilty of: Wherefore hast thou (presuming upon thy royal
dignity and power) despised the commandment of the Lord? v. 9.
This is the spring and this is the malignity of sin, that it is making light
of the divine law and the law-maker; as if the obligation of it were weak, the
precepts of it trifling, and the threats not at all formidable. Though no man
ever wrote more honourably of the law of God than David did, yet, in this
instance, he is justly charged with a contempt of it. His adultery with Bath-sheba,
which began the mischief, is not mentioned, perhaps because he was already
convinced of that, but, [1.] The murder of Uriah is twice mentioned: "Thou
hast killed Uriah with the sword, though not with thy sword, yet, which is
equally heinous, with thy pen, by ordering him to be set in the forefront of
the battle." Those that contrive wickedness and command it are as truly
guilty of it as those that execute it. It is repeated with an aggravation: Thou
hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon, those
uncircumcised enemies of God and Israel. [2.] The marrying of Bath-sheba is
likewise twice mentioned, because he thought there was no harm in that (v.
9): Thou hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and again, v. 10.
To marry her whom he had before defiled, and whose husband he had slain, was
an affront upon the ordinance of marriage, making that not only to palliate,
but in a manner to consecrate, such villanies. In all this he despised the
word of the Lord (so it is in the Hebrew), not only his commandment in
general which forbade such things, but the particular word of promise which
God had, by Nathan, sent to him some time before, that he would build him a
house. If he had had a due value and veneration for this sacred promise, he
would not thus have polluted his house with lust and blood.
(3.) He threatens an entail of judgements upon his family for this sin (v.
10): "The sword shall never depart from thy house, not in thy time
nor afterwards, but, for the most part, thou and thy posterity shall be
engaged in war." Or it points at the slaughters that should be among his
children, Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah, all falling by the sword. God had
promised that his mercy should not depart from him and his house (ch.
vii. 15), yet here threatens that the sword should not depart. Can the mercy
and the sword consist with each other? Yes, those may lie under great and long
afflictions who yet shall not be excluded from the grace of the covenant. The
reason given is, Because thou hast despised me. Note, Those who despise
the word and law of God despise God himself and shall be lightly esteemed. It
is particularly threatened, [1.] That his children should be his grief: I
will raise up evil against thee out of thy own house. Sin brings trouble
into a family, and one sin is often made the punishment of another. [2.] That
his wives should be his shame, that by an unparalleled piece of villany they
should be publicly debauched before all Israel, v. 11, 12. It is not
said that this should be done by his own son, lest the accomplishment should
have been hindered by the prediction being too plain; but it was done by
Absalom, at the counsel of Ahithophel, ch. xvi. 21, 22. He that
defiled his neighbour's wife should have his own defiled, for thus that
sin used to be punished, as appears by Job's imprecation, Job xxxi. 10, Then
let my wife grind unto another, and that threatening, Hos. iv. 14. The sin
was secret, and industriously concealed, but the punishment should be open,
and industriously proclaimed, to the shame of David, whose sin in the matter
of Uriah, though committed many years before, would then be called to mind and
commonly talked of upon that occasion. As face answers to face in a glass, so
does the punishment often answer to the sin; here is blood for blood and
uncleanness for uncleanness. And thus God would show how much he hates
sin, even in his own people, and that, wherever he find it, he will not let it
go unpunished.
3. David's penitent confession of his sin hereupon. He says not a word to
excuse himself or extenuate his sin, but freely owns it: I have sinned
against the Lord, v. 13. It is probable that he said more to this
purport; but this is enough to show that he was truly humbled by what Nathan
said, and submitted to the conviction. He owns his guilt--I have sinned,
and aggravates it--It was against the Lord: on this string he harps in
the psalm he penned on this occasion. Ps. li. 1, Against thee, thee only,
have I sinned.
4. His pardon declared, upon this penitent confession, but with a proviso.
When David said I have sinned, and Nathan perceived that he was a true
penitent,
(1.) He did, in God's name, assure him that his sin was forgiven: "The
Lord also has put away thy sin out of the sight of his avenging eye; thou
shalt not die," that is, "not die eternally, nor be for ever put
away from God, as thou wouldest have been if he had not put away the
sin." The obligation to punishment is hereby cancelled and vacated. He
shall not come into condemnation: that is the nature of forgiveness.
"Thy iniquity shall not be thy everlasting ruin. The sword shall not
depart from thy house, but, [1.] It shall not cut thee off, thou shalt
come to thy grave in peace." David deserved to die as an adulterer and
murderer, but God would not cut him off as he might justly have done. [2.]
"Though thou shalt all thy days be chastened of the Lord, yet thou
shalt not be condemned with the world." See how ready God is to
forgive sin. To this instance, perhaps, David refers, Ps. xxxii. 5, I said,
I will confess, and thou forgavest. Let not great sinners despair of
finding mercy with God if they truly repent; for who is a God like unto him,
pardoning iniquity?
(2.) Yet he pronounces a sentence of death upon the child, v. 14.
Behold the sovereignty of God! The guilty parent lives, and the guiltless
infant dies; but all souls are his, and he may, in what way he pleases,
glorify himself in his creatures. [1.] David had, by his sin, wronged God in
his honour; he had given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.
The wicked people of that generation, the infidels, idolaters, and profane,
would triumph in David's fall, and speak ill of God and of his law, when they
saw one guilty of such foul enormities that professed such an honour both for
him and it. "These are your professors! This is he that prays and sings
psalms, and is so very devout! What good can there be in such exercises, if
they will not restrain men from adultery and murder?" They would say,
"Was not Saul rejected for a less matter? why then must David live and
reign still?" not considering that God sees not as man sees, but
searches the heart. To this day there are those who reproach God, and are
hardened in sin, through the example of David. Now, though it is true that
none have any just reason to speak ill of God, or of his word and ways, for
David's sake, and it is their sin that do so, yet he shall be reckoned with
that laid the stumbling-block in their way, and gave, though not cause, yet
colour, for the reproach. Note, There is this great evil in the scandalous
sins of those that profess religion, and relation to God, that they furnish
the enemies of God and religion with matter for reproach and blasphemy, Rom.
ii. 24. [2.] God will therefore vindicate his honour by showing his
displeasure against David for this sin, and letting the world see that though
he loves David he hates his sin; and he chooses to do it by the death of
the child. The landlord may distrain on any part of the premises where he
pleases. Perhaps the diseases and deaths of infants were not so common in
those days as they are now, which might make this, as an unusual thing, the
more evident token of God's displeasure; according to the word he had often
said, that he would visit the sins of the fathers upon the children.
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David's Humiliation; Birth of Solomon.
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B. C. 1036.
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15
And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD
struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very
sick. 16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David
fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. 17 And the
elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the
earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. 18
And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants
of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold,
while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken
unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is
dead? 19 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David
perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is
the child dead? And they said, He is dead. 20 Then David arose
from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his
apparel, and came into the house of the LORD,
and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set
bread before him, and he did eat. 21 Then said his servants unto
him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep
for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou
didst rise and eat bread. 22 And he said, While the child was yet
alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD
will be gracious to me, that the child may live? 23 But now he is
dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him,
but he shall not return to me. 24 And David comforted Bathsheba
his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he
called his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him. 25 And he sent by the hand of Nathan the
prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.
Nathan, having delivered his message, staid not at court, but went home,
probably to pray for David, to whom he had been preaching. God, in making use
of him as an instrument to bring David to repentance, and as the herald both
of mercy and judgment, put an honour upon the ministry, and magnified his
word above all his name. David named one of his sons by Bath-sheba Nathan,
in honour of this prophet (1 Chron. iii. 5), and it was that son of whom
Christ, the great prophet, lineally descended, Lu. iii. 31. When Nathan
retired, David, it is probable, retired likewise, and penned the 51st Psalm,
in which (though he had been assured that his sin was pardoned) he prays
earnestly for pardon, and greatly laments his sin; for then will true
penitents be ashamed of what they have done when God is pacified towards
them, Ezek. xvi. 63.
Here is, I. The child's illness: The Lord struck it, and it was very
sick, perhaps with convulsions, or some other dreadful distemper, v.
15. The diseases and death of infants that have not sinned after the
similitude of Adam's transgression, especially as they are sometimes sadly
circumstanced, are sensible proofs of the original sin in which they are
conceived.
II. David's humiliation under this token of God's displeasure, and the
intercession he made with God for the life of the child (v. 16, 17): He
fasted, and lay all night upon the earth, and would not suffer any of his
attendants either to feed him or help him up. This was an evidence of the
truth of his repentance. For, 1. Hereby it appeared that he was willing to
bear the shame of his sin, to have it ever before him, and to be continually
upbraided with it; for this child would be a continual memorandum of it, both
to himself and others, if he lived: and therefore he was so far from desiring
its death, as most in such circumstances do, that he prayed earnestly for its
life. True penitents patiently bear the reproach of their youth, and of
their youthful lusts, Jer. xxxi. 19. 2. A very tender compassionate spirit
appeared in this, and great humanity, above what is commonly found in men,
especially men of war, towards little children, even their own; and this was
another sign of a broken contrite spirit. Those that are penitent will be
pitiful. 3. He discovered, in this, a great concern for another world, which
is an evidence of repentance. Nathan had told him that certainly the child
should die; yet, while it is in the reach of prayer, he earnestly intercedes
with God for it, chiefly (as we may suppose) that its soul might be safe and
happy in another world, and that his sin might not come against the child, and
that it might not fare the worse for that in the future state. 4. He
discovered, in this, a holy dread of God and of his displeasure. He deprecated
the death of the child chiefly as it was a token of God's anger against him
and his house, and was inflicted in performance of a threatening; therefore he
prayed thus earnestly that, if it were the will of God, the child might live,
because that would be to him a token of God's being reconciled to him. Lord,
chasten me not in thy hot displeasure. Ps. vi. 1.
III. The death of the child: It died on the seventh day (v. 18),
when it was seven days old, and therefore not circumcised, which David might
perhaps interpret as a further token of God's displeasure, that it died before
it was brought under the seal of the covenant; yet he does not therefore doubt
of its being happy for the benefits of the covenant do not depend upon the
seals. David's servants, judging of him by themselves, were afraid to tell him
that the child was dead, concluding that then he would disquiet himself
most of all; so that he knew not till he asked, v. 19.
IV. David's wonderful calmness and composure of mind when he understood the
child was dead. Observe,
1. What he did. (1.) He laid aside the expressions of his sorrow, washed and
anointed himself, and called for clean linen, that he might decently appear
before God in his house. (2.) He went up to the tabernacle and worshipped,
like Job when he heard of the death of his children. He went to acknowledge
the hand of God in the affliction, and to humble himself under it, and to
submit to his holy will in it, to thank God that he himself was spared and his
sin pardoned, and to pray that God would not proceed in his controversy with
him, nor stir up all his wrath. Is any afflicted? Let him pray. Weeping
must never hinder worshipping. (3.) Then he went to his own house and
refreshed himself, as one who found benefit by his religion in the day of his
affliction; for, having worshipped, he did eat, and his countenance was
no more sad.
2. The reason he gave for what he did. His servants thought it strange that he
should afflict himself so for the sickness of the child and yet take the death
of it so easily, and asked him the reason of it (v. 21), in answer to
which he gives this plain account of his conduct, (1.) That while the child
was alive he thought it his duty to importune the divine favour towards it, v.
22. Nathan had indeed said the child should die, but, for aught that he knew,
the threatening might be conditional, as that concerning Hezekiah: upon his
great humiliation and earnest prayer, he that had so often heard the voice
of his weeping might be pleased to reverse the sentence, and spare the
child: Who can tell whether God will yet be gracious to me? God gives
us leave to be earnest with him in prayer for particular blessings, from a
confidence in his power and general mercy, though we have no particular
promise to build upon: we cannot be sure, yet let us pray, for who can tell
but God will be gracious to us, in this or that particular? When our
relations and friends have fallen sick, the prayer of faith has prevailed
much; while there is life there is hope, and, while there is hope, there is
room for prayer. (2.) That now the child was dead he thought it as much his
duty to be satisfied in the divine disposal concerning it (v. 23): Now,
wherefore should I fast? Two things checked his grief:-- [1.] I cannot
bring him back again; and again, He shall not return to me. Those
that are dead are out of the reach of prayer; nor can our tears profit them.
We can neither weep nor pray them back to this life. Wherefore then should we
fast? To what purpose is this waste? Yet David fasted and wept for
Jonathan when he was dead, in honour to him. [2.] I shall go to him. First,
To him to the grave. Note, The consideration of our own death should moderate
our sorrow at the death of our relations. It is the common lot; instead of
mourning for their death, we should think of our own: and, whatever loss we
have of them now, we shall die shortly, and go to them. Secondly, To
him to heaven, to a state of blessedness, which even the Old Testament saints
had some expectation of. Godly parents have great reason to hope concerning
their children that die in infancy that it is well with their souls in the
other world; for the promise is to us and to our seed, which shall be
performed to those that do not put a bar in their own door, as infants do not.
Favores sunt ampliandi--Favours received should produce the hope of more.
God calls those his children that are born unto him; and, if they be his, he
will save them. This may comfort us when our children are removed from us by
death, they are better provided for, both in work and wealth, than they could
have been in this world. We shall be with them shortly, to part no more.
V. The birth of Solomon. Though David's marrying Bath-sheba had displeased the
Lord, yet he was not therefore commanded to divorce her; so far from this that
God gave him that son by her on whom the covenant of royalty should be
entailed. Bath-sheba, no doubt, was greatly afflicted with the sense of her
sin and the tokens of God's displeasure. But, God having restored to David the
joys of his salvation, he comforted her with the same comforts with which he
himself was comforted of God (v. 24): He comforted Bath-sheba.
And both he and she had reason to be comforted in the tokens of God's
reconciliation to them, 1. Inasmuch as, by his providence, he gave them a son,
not as the former, who was given in anger and taken away in wrath, but a child
graciously given, and written among the living in Jerusalem. They called him Solomon--peaceful,
because his birth was a token of God's being at peace with them, because of
the prosperity which was entailed upon him, and because he was to be a type of
Christ, the prince of peace. God had removed one son from them, but now gave
them another instead of him, like Seth instead of Abel, Gen. iv. 25.
Thus God often balances the griefs of his people with comforts in the same
thing wherein he hath afflicted them, setting the one over-against the other.
David had very patiently submitted to the will of God in the death of the
other child, and now God made up the loss of that, abundantly to his
advantage, in the birth of this. The way to have our creature-comforts either
continued or restored, or the loss of them made up some other way, is
cheerfully to resign them to God. 2. Inasmuch as, by his grace, he
particularly owned and favoured that son: The Lord loved him (v.
24 and 25), ordered him, by the prophet Nathan, to be called Jedidiah--Beloved
of the Lord: though a seed of evil-doers (for such David and Bath-sheba
were), yet so well ordered was the covenant, and the crown entailed by it,
that it took away all attainders and corruption of blood, signifying that
those who were by nature children of wrath and disobedience should, by the
covenant of grace, not only be reconciled, but made favourites. And, in this
name, he typified Jesus Christ, that blessed Jedidiah, the son of God's love,
concerning whom God declared again and again, This is my beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased.
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The
Conquest of Rabbah.
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B. C. 1036.
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26
And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal
city. 27 And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have
fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters. 28 Now
therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city,
and take it: lest I take the city, and it be called after my name.
29 And David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought
against it, and took it. 30 And he took their king's crown from
off his head, the weight whereof was a talent of gold with the precious
stones: and it was set on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil
of the city in great abundance. 31 And he brought forth the people
that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of
iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brickkiln: and
thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the
people returned unto Jerusalem.
We have here an account of the conquest of Rabbah, and other cities of the
Ammonites. Though this comes in here after the birth of David's child, yet it
is most probable that it was effected a good while before, and soon after the
death of Uriah, perhaps during the days of Bath-sheba's mourning for him.
Observe, 1. That God was very gracious in giving David this great success
against his enemies, notwithstanding the sin he had been guilty of just at
that time when he was engaged in this war, and the wicked use he had made of
the sword of the children of Ammon in the murder of Uriah. Justly might he
have made that sword, thenceforward, a plague to David and his kingdom; yet he
breaks it, and makes David's sword victorious, even before he repents, that
this goodness of God might lead him to repentance. Good reason had
David to own that God dealt not with him according to his sins, Ps.
ciii. 10. 2. That Joab acted very honestly and honourably; for when he had
taken the city of waters, the royal city, where the palace was, and
from which the rest of the city was supplied with water (and therefore, upon
the cutting off of that, would be obliged speedily to surrender), he sent to
David to come in person to complete this great action, that he might have the
praise of it, v. 26-28. Herein he showed himself a faithful servant,
that sought his master's honour, and his own only in subordination to his, and
left an example to the servants of the Lord Jesus, in every thing they do, to
consult his honour. Not unto us, but to thy name, give glory. 3. That
David was both too haughty and too severe upon this occasion, and neither so
humble nor so tender as he should have been. (1.) He seems to have been too
fond of the crown of the king of Ammon, v. 30. Because it was of
extraordinary value, by reason of the precious stones with which it was set,
David would have it set upon his head, though it would have been better to
have cast it at God's feet, and at this time to have put his own mouth in the
dust, under guilt. The heart that is truly humbled for sin is dead to worldly
glory and looks upon it with a holy contempt. (2.) He seems to have been too
harsh with his prisoners of war, v. 31. Taking the city by storm, after
it had obstinately held out against a long and expensive siege, if he had put
all whom he found in arms to the sword in the heat of battle, it would have
been severe enough; but to kill them afterwards in cold blood, and by cruel
tortures, with saws and harrows, tearing them to pieces, did not become him
who, when he entered upon the government, promised to sing of mercy as well as
judgment, Ps. ci. 1. Had he made examples of those only who had abused his
ambassadors, or advised or assisted in it, that being a violation of the law
of nations, it might have been looked upon as a piece of necessary justice for
terror to other nations; but to be thus severe with all the cities of the
children of Ammon (that is, the garrisons or soldiers of the cities) was
extremely rigorous, and a sign that David's heart was not yet made soft by
repentance, else the bowels of his compassion would not have been thus shut
up--a sign that he had not yet found mercy, else he would have been more ready
to show mercy.
Contents
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Next
Section
