A Chance For Mercy

 

“And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord.  And Nathan said to David, The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.  Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord and given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child that is born to you shall surely die.  

Then Nathan departed to his house.  And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s widow bore to David, and he was very sick.  David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted and went in and lay all night [repeatedly] on the floor.  His older house servants feared to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, While the child was yet alive, we spoke to him and he would not listen to our voices; will he then harm himself if we tell him the child is dead?

But when David saw that his servants whispered, he perceived that the child was dead.  So he said to them, Is the child dead?  And they said, He is.  Then David arose from the floor, washed, anointed himself, changed his apparel, and went into the house of the Lord and worshiped.  Then he came to his own house, and when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate.” (II Samuel 12:14-20)

This is a beautiful story of faith in God even when the answer is NO.  Sometimes the answer is no!  David had just been confronted by Nathan the Prophet about the sins of adultery, deceitfulness and murder.  According to the Law of Moses, he legally should have been stoned to death for any of these things, but all three at once?  But David repented.  He immediately confessed his sin and repented before God.  He felt horrible that He had hurt the Lord this way!  He had made a huge mess that God had to clean up.  How many of us have made messes of our lives that the Lord had to clean up?

The Lord’s sovereign mercy was extended to David and he was spared death, but the child wasn’t.  Yes, the child was innocent of any wrong-doing but his father wasn’t and in those days, the sins of the fathers WERE passed down to their children.  But in spite of the legalities, David asked anyway for mercy on his son.  He knew God’s mercies are great.  He knew God loved his child.  He knew God’s compassion could be swayed to save his son…so he asked ANYWAY.

David went to his prayer closet and began to plead for his son to be spared.  He wouldn’t eat or sleep.  All night he wept and pleaded before the Lord for his child.  Unfortunately, the child did die and went back to his Creator.  When David realized his child was dead, he got up and washed up, got dressed and went to the house of the Lord to WORSHIP Him.  David didn’t get mad at God for not giving him a “yes.”  He was still committed to the Lord, he still loved Him and he made the decision to praise Him ANYWAY!

There is always a chance for mercy that should propel us to ask anyway.  Jesus said to keep on asking, keep on seeking and keep on knocking.  You just never know.  That is the hope we have.  God’s mercies are new every morning and He daily loads us with benefits.  Even when the answer is no, He is still worthy of all our praise and all of our loyalties and all of our worship.  David went on the have more children with Bathsheba that were blessed of the Lord–like King Solomon.  Today, in heaven, David is with his son that died.

Lord help us all to love You even when the answer is no.  Help us to stay faithful even when we don’t get what we want.  Help us to be faithful in the face of disappointment.  In Jesus’ Name I ask. Amen and Amen!

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