2 Samuel 12:23

_DAVID THEREFORE BESOUGHT GOD FOR THE CHILD; AND DAVID FASTED, AND WENT IN, AND LAY ALL NIGHT UPON THE EARTH._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

15-25 David now 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. He was willing to bear the shame of it, to have it ever before him, to be continually upbraided with it. God gives us leave to be earnest with him in prayer for particular blessings, from trust in his power and general mercy, though we have no particular promise to build upon. David patiently submitted to the will of God in the death of one child, and God made up the loss to his advantage, in the birth of another. The way to have creature comforts continued or restored, or the loss made up some other way, is cheerfully to resign them to God. God, by his grace, particularly owned and favoured that son, and ordered him to be called Jedidiah, Beloved of the Lord. Our prayers for our children are graciously and as fully answered w...

Verse 2 Samuel 12:23. _I SHALL GO TO HIM, BUT HE SHALL NOT RETURN TO ME._] It is not clear whether David by this expressed his faith in the _immortality of the soul; going to him_ may only mean, _I also_ _shall die, and be gathered to my fathers, as he is_. But whether David expressed this or not, we know that the thing is true; and it is one of the most solid grounds of consolation to surviving friends that they shall by and by be joined to them in a state of conscious existence. This doctrine has a very powerful tendency to _alleviate_ the miseries of human life and reconcile us to the death of most beloved friends. And were we to admit the contrary, grief, in many cases, would wear out its subject before it wore out itself. Even the heathens derived consolation from the reflection that they should meet their friends in a state of conscious existence. And a sa...

EXPOSITION 2 SAMUEL 12:1 JEHOVAH SENT NATHAN UNTO DAVID. Though David had remained unrepentant for nearly a year, for we read in 2 Samuel 12:14 that the child was born, yet we are not to suppose that there had been no compunctions of conscience. A man could scarcely pass from utter callousness to a state of mind so tender as that depicted in Psalms 51:1 without some preparation. Assuredly David had suffered much mental distress, but he had given no outward sign of contrition, and possibly, but for Nathan's message, he might have overpowered his conscience, and his self-reproaches have become less frequent and agitating. More probably he was slowly ripening for re

BUT NOW HE IS DEAD, WHEREFORE SHOULD I FAST?.... And pray; it is to no purpose, no end can be thought to be answered by it: CAN I BRING HIM BACK AGAIN? from the state of the dead, bring him to life by fasting, and praying, and weeping; that is not to e expected: I SHALL GO TO HIM; to the state of the dead, to the grave, where his body was, or would be; to heaven and eternal happiness, where his soul was, as he comfortably hoped and believed: from whence it appears, that the Old Testament saints did not suppose an annihilation at death; but believed the immortality of the soul, a future state after death of eternal life and bliss: BUT HE SHALL NOT RETURN TO ME; in the present mortal state, though at the resurrection they should meet again....

2. THE MESSAGE OF GOD AND DAVID'S CONFESSION AND THE BEGINNING OF THE CHASTISEMENT CHAPTER 12 _ 1. The Lord's message through Nathan (2 Samuel 12:1)_ 2. David's anger (2 Samuel 12:5) 3. Thou art the man! (2 Samuel 12:7) 4. The chastisement (2 Samuel 12:10) 5. David's confession (2 Samuel 12:13) 6. The death of the child announced (2 Samuel 12:14) 7. The death of the child and David's grie

2 SAMUEL 12. DAVID'S REPENTANCE. CAPTURE OF RABBAH (J). The section concerning Nathan (2 Samuel 12:1_ a_) is sometimes regarded as a later addition by some one who was anxious to point out and emphasize the moral; but this view is not generally held. Only 2 Samuel 12:10 need be regarded as editorial. The chapter is important because it shows that the primitive ideas as to the morality of Yahweh were very real, though they might be defective in some directions. 2 SAMUEL 12:1. Nathan, by parable and admonition, brings David's guilt home to him; he makes penitent confession. Yahweh puts away his sin, which is thought of as a kind of disease, which would of itself kill the sinner, if it were n

I SHALL GO TO HIM. I shall die and be buried (Compare 2 Samuel 12:19): i, e.. shall go to the (not "a ") grave _(Sheol)._ On the use of this Figure of speech _Euphemy_ (App-6) as denoting death and burial, see Genesis 15:15 (compare Joshua 24:2; Joshua 24:14; Joshua 24:15, Abraham's "fathers "being _idolaters);_ 2Sa 25:8, 2Sa 25:17. 2Sa 35:29. 2Sa 49:29, 2Sa 49:33.Numbers 20:26;...

The Death of the Child 15. _strake_ An archaism for _struck._Cp. ch. 2 Samuel 20:10....

NOW HE IS DEAD, WHEREFORE SHOULD I FAST? &C.— If David meant only that he should die, and go to the grave like his son, as some commentators explain this passage, the consolation which it conveys would be very poor, and we should lose one of the noblest lessons that was ever penned, upon all that is reasonable and religious in grief. There can be no doubt that David believed the immortality of the soul. His writings abundantly prove it: and in this view we may well paraphrase the words thus, "If I cannot have the consolation to partake with this infant the temporal happiness wherewith the divine goodness has blessed me, yet, I hope, to rejoin his soul one day in Heaven, and to partake with him eternal felicity." Considered in this light, the words convey the most satisfactory comfort; and, surely, it would be wrong to suppose that David was unacquainted with the felicities of that future...