S189P9 – The man David: a son blessed of the Lord

2 Sam. 12:24‭-‬25

Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her.  So she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon.  Now the Lord loved him, and He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet: So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the Lord.

Solomon was the wisest man of his time. [1 Kgs. 10:23]  His wisdom is clearly displayed in his book of Ecclesiastes, but that wisdom was not his only accolade.  He was the man granted the privilege to build the first temple to house the Spirit of God.  This passage tells us that the Lord loved him, and that certainly is a reason he was so blessed.  He even surpassed all kings of his time with regard to riches.  Yes, David’s son was blessed of the Lord, but his arrival is part of a more involved story.  Solomon arrived with blessing but only after David’s first son departed accursed.  Because of David’s sin and the resulting blasphemy of the Lord, he had to lose that child. 

The story of the first son’s death is not a swift one.  The child first was struck ill, and David fasted and prayed for his recovery.  His death was not instant but took time to occur.  Once the boy died, David was made aware, and that is when an interesting thing happened.  He could have cursed God for taking his son from him.  He could have trashed the palace and created quite a scene, making life miserable for all who crossed his path.  He could have lashed out in any number of ways, but he did not.  Instead, he responded to the child’s death by worshiping the Lord.  He bowed in praise to the God who just had taken his son from him.  It is that response that I believe caused Solomon’s birth to be a blessed occasion.

We all will experience moments when the true motivations and inclinations of our hearts will become known.  David had to suffer a loss many would consider unfair but which was just in the eyes of God, and that would be his moment of revelation.  His love for God was revealed in his worshiping right after suffering that loss.  Even in the face of such a challenging time, he still loved the Lord.  Yes, he was flawed.  Yes, he committed some dastardly deeds.  However, what resided in his heart was his love for God and his desire to please him.  Father, give us what David had in that moment, the ability to respond to the greatest pain, the toughest chastening, with love and worship.