2 Samuel 12:22 - Printer Friendly

ESV: He said, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’

NIV: He answered, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’

NASB: And he said, 'While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, and the child may live.’

CSB: He answered, "While the baby was alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let him live.’

NLT: David replied, 'I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to me and let the child live.’

KJV: 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?

NKJV: And he said, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’

David has lived in full dependence and obedience towards God since he was a shepherd boy fighting lions and bears (1 Samuel 17:34–35). His crimes against Uriah and Bathsheba are a significant exception to the pattern of his life. David violated God's law and did what the Lord had said was evil (2 Samuel 12:9). As a result, Uriah, Bathsheba, David, and Bathsheba's son all suffered.

But David's rebellion was temporary. The moment he is convicted of sin, he repents with great humility and God forgives him (2 Samuel 12:13; Psalm 51). David's sincere repentance is why he's still known as the man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14).

David's faith in and faithfulness to God return when he repents. While his son lays sick, David is fully convinced that the Lord can be merciful and save him. David believes God hears his cries. So, he prays. While the boy lives, hope remains that the Lord might give him grace. David continues to pray and weep and fast until the Lord's answer becomes final (2 Samuel 12:14–19).

When the boy dies, David's petition changes to praise (2 Samuel 12:20). His advisors and servants are confused, thinking this is the time for mourning. They don't understand that even more than the life of the child, David wants reconciliation with his God: "Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit" (Psalm 51:7).

The prayer of faith doesn't insist that God say yes to every request. The prayer of faith is about believing that God cares for us and hears us, but also that He will do what is right and best because He is God.

Second Samuel 12:15–23 presents David's loss as Uriah's justice. David stole Uriah's wife, made her pregnant, and murdered him, taking away his right to leave a descendant for his family line. As a parallel, David will experience the loss of a child. David fasts and prays for mercy but accepts God's will when the child dies. Bathsheba will have four more sons including Solomon, the future king (2 Samuel 12:24–25; 1 Chronicles 3:5).

In 2 Samuel 12, David learns the consequences of his sins against Bathsheba and Uriah (2 Samuel 11). David thought no one of consequence knew what he'd done. Nathan the prophet reveals that God knows; the Lord demands justice for David's victims. David's household will rebel, and Bathsheba's son will die. David humbly repents, and Bathsheba later conceives Solomon, the future king. Joab, about to defeat the Ammonites, calls David to finish the fight. In 2 Samuel 13, the seeds of the promised rebellion are sown. Psalm 51 is David's expression of remorse for his sins.

David begins to lose control of his seemingly perfect situation. While the respected soldier Uriah was fighting Ammonites with Joab (2 Samuel 10), David slept with Uriah's wife, Bathsheba. To cover her pregnancy, David arranged for Uriah to die in battle (2 Samuel 11). Nathan, the prophet, confronts David over his crimes. God takes the child's life and will allow David's household to rebel against him. This begins when David's son rapes his own half-sister, Tamar (2 Samuel 13), starting a series of events that will result in another son, Absalom, taking the throne from his father (2 Samuel 14—16).

Second Samuel continues the story of David, who will become king over Judah. The other tribes of Israel are resistant, eventually sparking a civil war. David wins and makes Jerusalem his capital. Early success is followed by moral failure and controversy in David's house. The book of 1 Kings will begin by detailing David's decline and death.