Simply Redeemed

Photo by Christopher Campbell on Unsplash

13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.” 15 After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them. (2 Samuel 12:13-17)

The prophet, Nathan, went to King David with a message of judgement from God. But Nathan knew David well, so rather than tell David directly about God's displeasure, Nathan told David a story that enabled David to see his own sin clearly, feel the conviction in his own heart, and turn to God. That David was honestly contrite - not just sorry for getting caught, but sorry for the sins he had committed - kept God from pronouncing a death sentence for David. Instead - along with declaring a violent sentence against David's descendants - God took the life of the child that David's sin had produced.

Unfortunately, we are not given any insight into Bathsheba's feelings or state of mind. Had she struggled to care for this child - born from a sexual encounter that Bathsheba never asked for? As difficult as is may be to consider, was the child's death more merciful, for both the child and Bathsheba, than life would have been?

After Nathan's pronouncement of God's judgment, the child didn't die immediately but did immediately become ill. David then fasted and prayed hoping that God might spare the child's life. Again, Bathsheba is textually silent. She is mentioned again after the child died - David comforted her and "made love to her". We are left to wonder if Bathsheba had any more agency in this encounter, as David's wife, than she did when David

violated her while she was Uriah's wife.

This disheartening situation is emblematic of the time period - the value of women and children was in direct correlation to the nearest male relative. God does not base our value on societal norms, but God does work within those norms to bring about God's justice. The son born from David and Bathsheba as husband and wife, Solomon, would come to be considered the wisest king to ever rule God's people. Through Solomon, God gave Bathsheba great honor and value in a society where she would have been a footnote.

While we should not assume that notoriety healed Bathsheba from the harm inflicted upon her by David, we can hope that she was open to seeing how God redeemed her situation for a purpose. Of course, Bathsheba would never know that, because of this union, she would be a forbearer of Jesus - the savior and redeemer of all. Through David's sin and Bathsheba's pain God worked God's good plan. Neither our sin nor our circumstances are ever too awful for God to redeem. Thanks be to God!

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;

wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins

and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.