Moving On
June 27th, 2006
Ashley
He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows, the LORD may be gracious to me, that the child may live’. 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.”
2 Samuel 12:22-23
The consequence of David’s sin with Bathseba and towards Uriah was severe and strong. The Lord allowed David’s son to die while his was still a baby. Everyone watched David as he handled the death. He took a bath and cleaned up and asked to eat a good meal. He even went to worship God. My guess is that by the way everyone responded to his actions, this wasn’t the normal procedure. “Why isn’t he crying and wailing? How can he eat? Doesn’t he feel anything?”
David’s reply is simple and profound. His mournful sacrifices would not bring his child back, and so He was going to move forward with his actions. In fact he chose to comfort his wife and eventually they were blessed with another child, Solomon.
It’s amazing to me first off at just how good God is. David has done a horrible thing and had to pay for it. But God loved him and blessed him with a great blessing in David’s son Solomon, whom He used to deliver His truths to millions of people and to each of us.
I also am amazed at David’s resolve to move on. It’s not that he wasn’t mourning, I would interpret his desire to live “normally”as a type of mourning. The death of a child is not something you could just ignore, in fact God used the death of his Son, the most painful sacrifice He could make to pay for our sins. Even in the midst of this aching hurt however, David went and worshipped God. He had sinned and it had cost him a lot, but he had also been forgiven and he understood that he was still loved by a good God. When he moved on he did not forget his past but he looked forward to the future God had for him.
God help me to choose to continue to walk towards the hope that you have given me for a future because of your Son Jesus. Help me to recognize the pain in my life and deal with it in a healthy way, and thank you for the grace that you always provide even in the darkest times.