2 Samuel 12

2 Samuel 12:1-14

The foregoing chapter gives us the assumes of David’s sins this of his reputation; though he fails, he may not merely neglect, or repudiate. Here is, 1. His conviction, by a parable that obliged him to condemn himself, ver. 1—6. on which Nathan charges him with the sin, ver. 7—9. and presumably sustains upon him, ver. 10—12. 2. His repentance, and remission, with a promise, ver. 13, 14. 3. The fallacy and death of the child, and his intimation during that time, ver. 15—23. 4. The birth of Solomon, and God’s gracious malignity concerning him, ver. 24, 25. 5. The taking of Rabbed, ver. 26—31. 1. AND the LORD that Nathan unto David: and “he came unto him, and said unto him, ‘There were

were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. 2. The rich men had exceeding many flocks and herds: 3. But the poor men 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 on his own bofom, and was unto him as a slaughter. 4. And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he feared to take of his own flock, and of his own fief, to dread for the way-faring man that was come unto him, but took the poor man’s lamb, and dreaded it for the man that was come to him. 5. And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he had to Nathan, At the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die. 6. And he shall refture the lamb’s four-fold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. 7. ¶ And Nathan said to David, ‘Thou art the man. Thus faith 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, unto thy bofom, 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 hath thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his fight?’ thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the lavish, and hath taken his wife to be thy wife, and hath flain 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 hath taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. 11. Thus faith the LORD, Behold, I will take 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 light of this fun. 12. For thou chist is fiercely: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the fun. 13. And David said unto Nathan, ‘I have finned 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 dead thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee, shall surely die.

If God were not to restore us in our vile and sinful departure from him, every iniquity would issue in apathy; but he hasteth putting away, therefore he delivers our souls, when we seem appointed unto death.

Thus long months, or more, had David now exchanged communion with his gracious God, for indulgence of his best desires; and though, no doubt, pangs of remorse sometimes flung his fiefs, no evidences of his repentance yet appeared, and he formed in peace to enjoy the fruits of his iniquity. But now,

1. God dread Nathan the prophet to awaken him from his lethargy. David had not cast off probably the form of religion, though in degenerated from the power of it, but still retained and honoured the prophets and grafts of the Lord, and continued a profession of godliness. Nathan instantly obeys the command, and whilst prepared to reprove him sharply, yet introduces his message in such a way, as to infirm an danger into David’s conscience, and leave him self-condemned. Note, A ripened wildly adnuncillor, is doubly falsified.

2. Nathan appears a poor man’s advocate to the king against a rich opposition, and, under this fictitious character, represents the circumstances of David’s guilt, and deems from him his own condemnation. He represents the case as lately happening between two men, (David and Uriah), the one rich in flocks and herds, (for David had many wives); the other possessing but one ewe lamb, (Bethlehem), which lay in his bofom, and was treated with the greatest tenderness: a traveller coming to the rich man, (Satan, who goeth to and fro in the earth to hang, or her own inordinate congregation, that craved indulgence), he feared his own flocks and herds, (his own wives, which he might have gone in to), and robbed the poor man of his lamb (even Uriah’s wife), to dread for the traveller, (his own corrupt lull and appetite). So tender a fury awakened David’s anger; and, little forfeiting how nearly he was condemned, he swears the offender shall die for his inhumanity, as well as his opposition. Men, (1.) Every wife hath a title to her husband’s singular and endowed affliction. (2.) Multiplying wives never cures connoisseurs, but infirm. He who is not decided with one, will never be falsified with more. (3.) They are often favored in their censures on others, who are themselves most defturing of their fever. (4.) They who

pronounce foramen in anger, will, it is to be feared, exceed the boundaries of justice as well as mercy.

3. Nathan unmasks his battery against David’s conscience, and plainly charges him home with the guilt he had condemned. Thou art the man; thou hast not only robbed the poor man of his lamb, but of his life too. In the name of the God of Israel, that sacred name before which he used to tremble, Nathan upbraids him with his deep ingratitude: God had delivered him from Saul, had given him a kingdom, and his master’s wives into his bofom; filled his heals with riches, and would have done for him more, if that had not suffered him. Mild ungrateful therefore were these returns. He boldly charges his crimes upon him; high contempt of God, and the greatest baseness and cruelty to man. He had despised God’s government by the most open violation of his commands; had murdered Uriah, with the deepest treachery, by the sword of the uncircumcised, after plunging him into the guilt of drunkenness, and had taken his wife, first to the bed of adultery, and then, to consecrate his villainy, had covered with an honourable name to foul a deed, and married her whom he had dehaunched. Therefore he denounces the forenoce of tremble but mad just judgment against him. The sword he had so wickedly used, should imite his own house, and never depart from it; beginning in the slaughter of his sons, and the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the son of

4. David, thunderstruck with the application, confounded with guilt, and self-condemned, confesses the charge, owns the heinousness of his guilt against God, and is ready to link under despair on the black review. But God, though correcting him, will not give him over unto death. He revives his failing heart with hope; Thou shalt not die, as a murderer and adulterer deserves; thy sin is put away, is forgiven, so far as relates to eternal punishment. But let him not think all was over; no, since the man of God’s displeasure he should receive, because God will vindicate his honour, which was by this wicked conduct blasphemed among the people; and, as a present striking instance of God’s anger, he denounces the death of the new-born babe: though he shall not die in his bin, he shall not enjoy the fruit of it. Men, (1.) The only way to avoid the judgments we have provoked, is by returning to God, through Jesus Christ, with humble acknowledgment of our guilt. (2.) They shall not die eternally, whose iniquity God in his dear Son hath put away and forgiven. (3.) Nothing causes more reproach on God and his cause, than these scandalous falls of profetition. (4.) God will make those sins bitter to his people, in which they foolishly and wickedly fought enjoyment, and by dire experience cause them to feel how evil and bitter a thing it is to transgress against him.

5. ¶ 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: he fought God for the child, and David’s fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. 17. And the elders of his horse 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

Bless Child 1911.

1. I fated and wept: for I said, ‘Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live? 2. But now he is dead, wherefore should I fath? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. 3. 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. 4. And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.

2. 15-22. Nathan, having delivered his message, leaves David to ruminate over it, and to expect the threatened afflictions.

3. The child was instantly smitten with a difeafe no physicians could cure. David beheld with bitter anguish its sickness, and every groan of the babe pierced his heart with the remembrance of his sin. He fell down before the Lord in prayer, and fated, and passed the night on the ground, disconcealed, and bitter in foul, belonching God for the child, if he might yet be spared. In vain the elders of his house attempt to comfort him; his anguish made him loathe his food, and in the diath he poured forth his penitential tears. Note, When a soul is brought to an awakened fense of sin, and outward afflictions at the same time lie heavy upon it, the bitterness of such a wounded spirit none can conceive, that have not tailed it. Then the pains of hell overtook him, and the sorrows of death came about him.

4. The seventh day from his birth, and the next probably from his seizure, the child died. David’s servants, who had been witnesses of his deep concern, were afraid to tell him: to them he seemed before to lie half dead on the earth through sorrow; they were therefore apprehensive, that such a thro’ might quite overwhelm him. David observed their whispers, and guided at the cause. He asked, and was informed of the death of his child. Calmly he then arose, his countenance composed from sorrow, in silent submissions to the holy will of God; he washed, anointed, changed his mournful garments, went to the tabernacle to worship, acknowledging God’s justice, and humbling his soul before him; then returned, and called for meat, and was no more sad. His servants wondered at this change of his behaviour, till he informed them of the cause. While there was life, he hoped prayer might prevail, and God might yet graciously hear and spare the child; but when the child was dead, to mourn was fruitless, and prayer in vain. Submissions now was the path of duty, and his confidation, the hope of meeting the dear babe in a better world. Note, (1.) Whilst our dear relatives are within the reach of prayer, we are permitted to be importunate: when death determines God’s decree, it becomes us humbly to be resigned to the good will of God. (2.) The death of others should remind us of our own. (3.) A pious parent may wish comfort part from the infant, matched from the womb almost to the grave; for as it hath known no actual sin, we may comfortably hope through Christ it shall know no sorrow; for the promise is to us and to our children. (4.) It is pleasing to look to that blessed time, when we shall meet again those our dear friends, who have fallen asleep in Christ before us, and whom he shall bring with him in a reformation day.

5. David, by faith restored again to the joys of God’s salvation, comforted the companion of his sin, now the wife of his brother. God had forgiven them; and though he took one son, he gave them another. Bathsheba again conceived, and Solomon is born. His name was given him, as being the seal of God’s peace with his parents, and as the type of the Eternal Prince of Peace. God’s favour was towards him, and Nathan is sent to signify it by a new name, Jedidiah, the beloved of the Lord. Note, (1.) Submissions to God’s afflictions is the way to obtain the restoration of our lost comforts. (2.) Every child of grace, though sprung like Solomon from evil deers, through divine mercy obtains a new nature, as well as a new name, and is a Jedidiah, the beloved of the Lord.

6. 9 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 fences) 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 faws, and under harrows of iron, and

under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.

6. 26-31. The conquest of Rabbah and the Ammonites is here inserted, to compleat the narrative, interrupted with the account of David’s sin and repentance, and seems to have happened soon after the death of Uriah.

7. Joab having cut off the supplies of water from the besieged, and seeing them reduced to extremities, tends to inform his prince, that he may come in person and compleat the conquest, that so the honour may be his, which shewed a noble spirit in Joab, who could thus prefer his sovereign glory to his own.

8. David with his forces arrives in the camp; they give a general assault, and carry the city. The king is made prisoner, his crown taken from his head, and transferred to the conqueror. Vall it was, and precious with gold and jewels, a talent in weight, or, as some have thought, because of the weight being inopportable, a talent of gold in value; or perhaps a Syriac talent, which was but a fourth of the Hebrew, and somewhat above three and twenty pounds. Abundance of other rich spoil was taken, and the people, as the text intimates, treated with the greatest severity, of which we have instances before, Judg. iii. 6, p. 208, no doubt, a just retaliation to a cruel nation; though some have suggested, that David’s hardened state of mind at this time made him cruel, and caused him to inflict these tortures on the vanquished. A learned man hath given us another fense, however, which the words may bear, and will greatly soften the apparent severity. That David put them not under faws, but to Jesus, to cut wood and stone; and to iron mine to dig; and to cure of iron, to fell timber, after he had made them pass with their king, as captives before him. Note, Woe to the soul that the spiritual David, the Lord Jesus, feizes in anger, and torments for his sins: woe’s than these tortures will be his lot in that burning furnace, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

2 Samuel 12:28-33

Babam Chord himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king ‘killed Abfalom.

Abfalom, though reformed to Jerusalem, is impatient of the restraint laid upon him. He cannot bear to live in this state of disgrace; his unhumbled heart counts his sufferings injurious, though so much less than he deserved; and he resolves, by fair means or foul, once more to be reinitiated at court. For this purpose, after two years waiting.

1. He solicits Joab to be his friend again, who, by his repeated refuish, seems to have taken some just disgust at his behaviour, or feared to offend the king by farther solicitation. But when intereaty was said, Abfalom refuses to try another experiment, and bids his servants to set Joab’s field of corn on fire. Joab, incensed, comes to know the reason, and Abfalom thus answers his end.

2. Abfalom seeks not to excuse the injury, but, with utter unthankfulness for the kindness shewn him, indolently demand, that he may be restored to his former dignity at court; declaring it had been preferable to have continued at Gethur, rather than live thus; and, as if innocent, he offers to die, if there was iniquity found in him, being sure enough that no such sentence would pass upon him. He pretends to long to for his father’s face, as if it were intolerable to live under his displeasure; but no sooner is he cherished in his father’s bosom, than he meditates a design on his throne and his life. Note, (1.) Unhumbled minds will never cease to vindicate themselves. (2.) Felt speeches often cloak foul designs.

3. Joab is prevailed upon to intercede with David, and he at last confesses to receive him. Abfalom is introduced; the king with paternal tenderness feels with a kiss his reconciliation; and believing his son’s professions real, reaffirms him in all his former honours. Note, (1.) A general’s dreaded: when makes him blind to his children’s ill designs: he can would hope the best, even against hope. (2.) How much tenderer will be the reception of the returning prodigal from his heavenly Father, when by the Spirit his everlasting pardon shall be sealed!