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Okay, you can turn in your Bibles 
to 2 Samuel 12. 2 Samuel chapter 12. We looked at the first 14 verses 
last week. We'll take up the latter half 
this evening. But I do want to read beginning 
in chapter 12 at verse 1. Remember the scene? This is after 
David's fall into sin when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, 
and then he committed murder. of Uriah in order to cover up 
that particular sin. So we go into chapter 12, the 
last thing having read in chapter 11, but the thing that David 
had done displeased the Lord, or was evil in Yahweh's eyes. So we come to chapter 12 beginning 
in verse 1. Then the Lord sent Nathan to 
David. And he came to him and said to 
him, There were two men in one city, one rich and the other 
poor. The rich man had exceedingly 
many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing except one 
little lamb which he had bought and nourished, and it grew up 
together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food 
and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom, and it was 
like a daughter to him. And a traveler came to the rich 
man who refused to take from his own flock and from his own 
herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him. But 
he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had 
come to him. So David's anger was greatly 
aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, As the Lord 
lives, the man who has done this shall surely die, and he shall 
restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and 
because he had no pity. Then Nathan said to David, you 
are the man. Thus says the Lord God of Israel, 
I appointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the 
hand of Saul. I gave you your master's house and your master's 
wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel 
and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have 
given you much more. Why have you despised the commandment 
of the Lord to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah 
the Hittite with the sword. You have taken his wife to be 
your wife and have killed him with the sword of the people 
of Annan. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your 
house because you have despised me and have taken the wife of 
Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the Lord, behold 
I will raise up adversity against you from your own house and I 
will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor 
and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this son. For 
you did it secretly but I will do this thing before all Israel, 
before the son. So 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. However, because 
by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the 
Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall 
surely die. Then Nathan departed to his house, 
and the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, 
and it became ill. David therefore pleaded with 
God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all 
night on the ground. So the elders of his house arose 
and went to him to raise him up from the ground. But he would 
not, nor did he eat food with them. Then on the seventh day 
it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David 
were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. For they 
said, indeed, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and 
he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the 
child is dead? He may do some harm. When David 
saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child 
was dead. Therefore David said to his servants, 
Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. So David arose from the ground, 
washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes. And 
he went into the house of the Lord and worshipped. Then he 
went to his own house, and when he requested, they set food before 
him, and he ate. Then his servant said to him, 
what is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child 
while he was alive, but when the child died, you arose and 
ate food. 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? But 
now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring 
him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall 
not return to me. Then David comforted Bathsheba 
his wife, and went into 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. Now Joab fought 
against Rabbah of the people of Ammon, and took the royal 
city. And Joab sent messengers to David 
and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and I have taken the 
city's water supply. Now therefore gather the rest 
of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, 
lest I take the city and it be called after my name. So David 
gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah, fought against 
it and took it. Then he took their king's crown 
from his head. Its weight was a talent of gold 
with precious stones, and it was set on David's head. Also 
he brought out the spoil of the city in great abundance. And 
he brought out the people who were in it and put them to work 
with saws and iron picks and iron axes and made them cross 
over to the brickworks. So he did to all the cities of 
the people of Ammon. Then David and all the people 
returned to Jerusalem. Amen. Well, as we saw last week, 
God in mercy sent Nathan to David. That's how verse 1 starts. Then 
the Lord sent Nathan to David, a great mercy and a kindness 
from God that David was not enabled to continue in his sin and rebellion 
and his unrepentance. loved David, so he sent Nathan 
to call him on this particular sin." Of course, Nathan gives 
him this parable, draws David in such that David is outraged. He is angry. He's upset about 
this particular character in the parable. And then, of course, 
Nathan lowers the boom and says, you are the man. And God brings 
judgment to bear or God brings condemnation and conviction to 
bear upon David. David then says that he has sinned 
against the Lord. And Nathan says to David in verse 
13, the Lord also has put away your sin. You shall not die. So there is mercy and forgiveness 
and kindness to be had with God. But as we continue there in verse 
14, we see that there are temporal consequences connected to David's 
sin. Well, we see that as well in 
verse 11. If you look at verse 11, thus 
says the Lord, Behold, I will raise up adversity against you 
from your own house, and I will take your wives before your eyes 
and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives 
in the sight of this sod. So the sword would never depart 
from David's house, there would be this usurpation on the part 
of Absalom, and there would be this public defilement of David's 
wives. Consequences for this particular 
sin. The immediate consequence is 
found in verse 14. However, because by this deed 
you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to 
blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die." 
Remember that David and Bathsheba had had a baby together, a baby 
boy, and that's what we pick up now in chapter 12. In verses 
15b to 23, we see the immediate consequence of David's sin. In verses 24 and 25, we have 
the birth of Solomon in the wake of David's sin. And then thirdly 
and finally, the victory over the Ammonites in verses 26 to 
31. Remember, the Ammonite War is 
in the background. It's in chapter 11, when the 
kings went out to battle, that David stayed behind in the city 
of Jerusalem. He sent Joab out. Well, that 
war with the Ammonites is still continuing, or perhaps it could 
have already been completed. We'll look at that in more detail 
when we get there. But note first, with reference 
to the immediate consequence of David's sin, the sickness 
of the child. Verse 15b, and the Lord struck 
the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and it became ill. 
We see in this a testimony concerning the sovereignty of God. We see 
in this, obviously, the reality that the forgiveness of sins 
given by God does not get rid of temporal consequences. In other words, when we sin against 
God, we can have forgiveness and washing and cleansing by 
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, but sometimes there is connected 
immediately to our sin a temporal punishment. Now, not always. 
There are instances in Scripture where somebody sins, they're 
forgiven by God, and there's no direct or immediate consequence 
applied. Now, God's not favorable ever 
toward us in our sin, but it's not the case that every time 
somebody sins, the Lord God strikes their child with illness and 
ultimately with death. In this particular occasion, 
that was the means God used in terms of David's situation. And 
we ought to ponder that, the temporal consequences that come 
as a result of sin. In 1 Corinthians chapter 11, 
the Apostle Paul highlights this reality for the people of God. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, in 
terms of the Lord's Supper. He says we are to examine ourselves 
before we participate in the supper. We're not to dishonor 
the Lord's body. Now in this he's not suggesting 
that we need to be sinlessly perfect because we would never 
take the supper. The idea is, is a conscience 
void of offense toward God and men. It's a context wherein we're 
not harboring iniquity. We're not holding on to something. 
We're not cherishing sin. We're seeking by the grace of 
God to deal with those things. Notice what he says in verse 
29, for he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and 
drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. Verse 
30, for this reason many are weak and sick among you, and 
many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, 
we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are 
chastened by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the 
world. So even in this chastening, there is redemption. In other 
words, it's not the fact that God takes away their salvation. 
but they are affected temporally by their sin. And we need to 
appreciate that in this narrative concerning David. John Calvin 
in his introduction to this particular sermon on this particular section 
said, the first thing that we have to note about this story 
is that the threat made through Nathan was not in vain, and that 
David was punished for his sin by the death of his child. He 
says, ìWe have already explained how such a judgment of God seems 
strange to our fancy. However, we should still adore 
Him by confessing that He is just in everything He does, even 
though He does not show us the reason but keeps it incomprehensible. We see how David was chastised, 
remembering what we say yesterday, that the faithful, although they 
may have been granted forgiveness, still need to be humble and need 
God to make them increasingly aware of the evil that they have 
committed so that in the future they will be more on their guard. 
I think that's very perceptive. Temporal consequences serve the 
believer as a tutor, as a schoolmaster to hopefully prevent any further 
instances in the future. In other words, when God brings 
that rod to bear upon his erring children, hopefully we remember 
the rod. I hope that as you are parenting 
your children or are currently parenting your children, when 
you administer the rod of correction, you do it in such a way so as 
they'll remember it. When they go and reach for something 
that they're not supposed to have, hopefully they'll remember 
that season or that instance when they met with that rod of 
chastisement, and it will be a restraint upon them. It will 
be a guard over them. Calvin says that is one of the 
reasons why temporal chastisement comes to the people of God. Now 
note, with reference to the illness of this child, notice David's 
intercession in verses 16 to 19. It says, David therefore 
pleaded with God for the child, and David fasted and went in 
and lay all night on the ground. So the elders of his house arose 
and went to him to raise him up from the ground. But he would 
not, nor did he eat food with them. Then on the seventh day 
it came to pass that the child died. So we see David in response 
to this. Now, we might wonder at David's 
wisdom in this particular instance. Nathan tells him that the child 
will die. The child is struck with illness 
and David prays. Well, it could have been the 
case that God was not going to carry out this particular execution. David wants to appeal to the 
Lord. He appeals to the sovereignty 
of God according to verse 22. For I said, who can tell whether 
the Lord will be gracious to me that the child may live? Some 
suggest that it was an enticement or an incitement for David to 
pray. This promise of chastisement 
from Nathan sent David to that place where he hadn't been for 
a long time. Remember in that time, nine months, 
where David had committed adultery, David had committed murder, we 
made the observation that he was living away from God. Well, 
when adversity strikes, and when suffering comes, and when sorrow 
affects the people of God, what typically comes as a response? 
It is bowing to the Lord God Most High in prayer. It is fasting. It is intercession. It is those 
things that David had lived comfortably without for that long period 
of time. We have no record in chapter 
11 whatsoever of any felt communion that David had with his God. 
Well, here he's before the Lord. Here he's praying. Here he's 
fasting. Here he is going before the sovereign 
king of heaven and earth. And I think it reveals to us 
something of his desperation. I think that's one of the things 
that sorrows and trials and difficulties bring upon the suffering saint. 
And I think that's one of the lessons we're going to call out 
of here at the end of the time tonight. What does this teach 
us about suffering in the lives of God's people? It promotes, 
or it produces, or rather it causes us to recognize our desperation. This is a difficult scene for 
David. I mean, this is a child whom 
he loves. He's a father. I mean, it's times 
like these we can read through narratives and say, well, you 
know, David had a right view of the sovereignty of God, and 
everything is great, and David knows it's all going to work 
out. No, David was in pain. This was his baby. I mean, when 
you've got a baby that's sick, even with a mild cold or fever, 
it's a tough, difficult situation. David has a condition of desperation. As well, David expresses dependence 
on God. David knows where to go when 
there's sickness in his home. David knows where to go when 
there's trials that have come upon him. He has tried and proven 
his God in the past, and so he goes with dependence upon this 
Lord now. And as well, I think it shows 
us something of his determination. Notice, he prays, he fasts, and 
he keeps this up for a period of seven days. He is determined. The elders come along and they 
say, you need to eat, you need to take food to the king. This 
is something that they wanted to make sure that he doesn't 
drop dead from starvation. And David resists that, he refuses 
that, and he continues in this particular pattern. And then 
we get the note that the child dies. We see the report in verses 
18 and 19, and the servants don't want to tell David. They saw 
that David was quite a mess when he knew that he was ill. They 
conclude that when David finds out that he's dead, he might 
do some harm. Whether it's harm to others or 
harm to himself, the servants have a fear based on what they've 
observed in this seven-day period. The king of Israel is bowed before 
God Most High. He is in a desperate condition. 
He is showing his dependence. He is determined by doing so. 
And they are not wanting to go and tell him these things. Verse 
19, David knows what's going on. David asks the question, 
has the child died? Is the child dead? And they said 
he is dead. Now, it's an intriguing turn 
of events here. In fact, it surprises the servants at what David does 
at this particular point. Notice in verses 20 to 23, he 
arose from the ground, he washed himself, he anointed himself, 
and he changed his clothes. This doesn't seem like the mark 
of grieving, does it? I mean, it seems like just the 
opposite. They are perplexed by this and 
puzzled by this. But note what it says in verse 
20 as well. And he went into the house of 
the Lord and he worshiped. You know, brethren, that is the 
mark of a faithful man. Calamity comes, sorrow comes, 
trial comes, difficulty comes. You know what one of our tendencies 
or our temptations are? It is to blame God. And when 
we blame God, we're certainly not going to go worship God. 
We'll find a hundred reasons why we ought not to go to church 
on Sunday when we had a calamity strike us on Saturday. We'll 
find many a reason why we ought not to go to the house of the 
Lord and celebrate the glory of God with the people of God 
because we've suffered this hardship in our lives. But that's not 
the case here. Then he went into the house of 
the Lord. and he worshipped. It's been 
my blessed experience to see persons who have gone through 
trial and tragedy and sorrow and difficulty show up at church 
on the Sunday that is closely connected to that trial or that 
tragedy or that sorrow. That is a great encouragement 
in terms of where their soul is at when a man who has suffered 
such loss and such grief, nevertheless goes to the house of the Lord 
in order to worship, we would identify that man as a man of 
faith. I think you can think of another 
one, at least in the Scriptures, that responds in like manner. 
What does Job do when he receives the news of great calamity in 
his own home and family? Does he whine? Does he grumble? 
Does he complain? Does he say, I'm never going 
to worship God again? Lord, how could you ever treat me like 
this? Lord, how could you ever deal out such a blow to me? He 
doesn't do that. He worships God most high. He 
confesses that he came into this world naked. He confesses that 
he will leave this world naked. And he says, blessed be the name 
of the Lord. Brethren, that is the response 
of God's people when trial, calamity, sorrow, hardship, difficulty 
fall upon us. We need to respond with the worship 
of the living and true God. Just a bit of a snapshot of the 
future of our time tonight. Calvin says, for to pray to God 
and yet to resent it if things do not go according to our wishes 
is not true prayer. So if David prays this and he 
doesn't get the answer that he is seeking, and he absents himself 
from the worship of God, it gives an indication that his prayer 
wasn't legit. His prayer wasn't real. His prayer 
wasn't heartfelt. Because how do the people of 
God pray? They pray, thy will be done. And we need to understand that 
thy will is always the best for everyone involved. And it may 
not appear that way. It may seem grieving and difficult 
and hard. And we don't understand what 
God is going to do in terms of His glory and our well-being. But the faithful worship. The 
faithful say what Job said. The faithful do what David did. They don't absent themselves. 
And again, just on a real practical level, how many times have you 
or I missed church for much lesser reasons? David loses a son, and 
he clothes himself, anoints himself, and then he goes into the house 
of the Lord, and he worships. And then notice, in the middle 
of verse 20, he goes back home, he asks for food, and they set 
it before him, and he ate. And then, of course, the servants. 
Again, they're perplexed by this. They have seen David fasting 
and praying for a period of seven days while the child was ill. 
The child dies, and now David is wanting to eat. He's got some 
aftershave on. He's ready to roll. And they're 
curious about this. And note David's response, this 
is beautiful, verse 22, 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? You see, David 
trusted in the sovereignty of God. David understood the power 
and the majesty of God. David cast himself upon God. David expressed his dependence 
upon God. And he says this very clearly. 
Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me that the 
child may live? I am going to go to the Lord. 
I am going to seek His blessing. I'm going to ask Him specifically. 
But if the Lord chooses not to answer the way that I want, I'm 
still going to resolve to worship and praise the Lord. That's the 
mindset that David has in this passage. Ralph Davis says that 
explains David's relentless intercession. David thought that maybe Yahweh's 
sentence in verse 14b was not his last word. Maybe David thought 
he's stirring me to pray. It all rests on David's thinking, 
his assumption about God. I thought, who knows, Yahweh 
may show grace to me. See how well David knows his 
God. Showing grace is Yahweh's forte. I love that. That's what our 
God does. Again, banish the thought, if 
you've ever heard it, or if you ever come across it, that the 
Old Testament is devoid of grace and mercy, kindness and compassion. This Old Testament saint, David, 
the king of Israel, lived by grace. He regulated his life 
according to God's grace. Davis goes on to say, and who 
can tell what a God like that may delight to do in this case? 
Who can imagine how gracious a God of all grace wants to be 
to us in our sins and messes? He says, for David, grace is 
not a doctrinal concept, but the peculiar bent of God's nature. That's why David prays thus. He says to them, who can tell 
whether the Lord will be gracious to me that the child may live? Insofar as the child is breathing, 
David is going to pray. David is going to intercede. 
David is going to fast. David is going to keep this up. 
He is going to be importunate at the throne of grace. He's 
going to ask. He's going to seek. He's going 
to knock. Why? Because David thinks that his 
asking and his seeking and his knocking is going to secure this 
answer. Not at all, because he knows 
that God is gracious, and when we appeal to the God of grace, 
who knows what he might do. But now the answer comes that 
God says, no, the child dies, and so David responds in that 
light in verse 23. But now he is dead, why should 
I fast? Can I bring him back again? You 
see, David understands the reality at this particular point. The 
Lord God has rendered verdict. The Lord God has made His decision. 
The Lord God has taken the little one from David. All of the fasting 
in the world and all the praying in the world is not going to 
restore that little one unto David. And then he says, at the 
very end, I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. 
Now I believe there are persons that take this as a statement 
that the little baby went to heaven. I'm not here to get into 
all of that. What David is asserting here, 
more than likely, is his own immortality. David understands 
that he is going to die one day himself. And it is intriguing 
because David, up to this point, hasn't really shown us that side 
of his character or that being. Sometimes sorrows and trials 
and difficulties and hardship reveal something about a man 
we hadn't learned before. Not that David wasn't in fear 
for his life when he was on the run from Saul, but David now 
speaks as a man that seems to be humbled Not that he was especially 
proud before, but he understands that he shall go to him, but 
he shall not return to me. He will go to the grave. David 
will visit that place. John Gill states, and he deals 
with both elements, the physical and the spiritual. He says, to 
the state of the dead, to the grave, where his body was or 
would be, to heaven and eternal happiness, where his soul was, 
as he comfortably hoped and believed. I love what he says here, "...from 
whence it appears that the Old Testament saints did not suppose 
an annihilation at death, but believed the immortality of the 
soul, a future state after death of eternal life and bliss." So 
you see, with reference to the immediate consequence of David's 
sin, it is sharp, it is severe, it is a heavy consequence. as 
a result of adultery and murder. The sword will not depart from 
your house. There will be adversity within your own house. Your wives 
will be publicly violated before all Israel. And then Nathan announces 
to them, the son that has been born to you shall die. David goes to prayer, he fasts, 
he pleads with the father, and God takes that little one. And 
David then gets up, he goes, he worships, and he explains 
himself. While he was alive, I trusted 
in the power, and in the majesty, and in the sovereignty of God. 
But now that he is dead, I still trust in the power, and in the 
sovereignty, and in the majesty of that God, who has executed 
his divine will, I need to move on at this particular point. 
Now notice in the second place, the birth of Solomon in the wake 
of David's sin. I mean, this is incredible. You 
talk about grace. Don't miss grace in these two 
short verses here. I mean, look at what David and 
Bathsheba had done. Look at their crimes, look at 
their sins, look at the heinousness of it. Why would God ever bless 
them? Why would God ever give them another son? Why would God 
do this? Because God is gracious, because 
God is merciful, because God is kind. Notice the identity 
of Bathsheba in verse 24. You might say, that's an interesting 
title because we know who Bathsheba is. She's Bathsheba. But up to 
this particular point in the narrative, look at how Bathsheba 
has been identified. In 11.3, she is called the wife 
of Uriah the Hittite. In 11.26, when the wife of Uriah 
heard that Uriah, her husband, was dead. In 12.9, you have taken 
his, Uriah's, wife to be your wife. And now note even closer 
with, I'm sorry, 12.10, it says, and you have taken the wife of 
Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. And note in the immediate 
context at verse 15, and the Lord struck the child that Uriah's 
wife bore to David. She's continually identified 
as the wife of Uriah. Now David was married to her, 
Uriah was dead, but I think the narrator is doing this to keep 
at the forefront the sin of David. I think the purpose is that we, 
the reader, do not lose sight of the gravity of the situation. that we do not just assume that 
this is another addition to David's harem. It's just another wife, 
the way he's collected them along the way. We have been told that 
David has added to his wives, we've been told their names, 
but we have not been told that David's added a wife to his collection 
the way that we're told in this particular instance. And so the 
author is continually presenting before us the reality that David 
sinned. He took another man's wife and 
he murdered that man to cover it up. Here, notice verse 24, 
then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife. I don't think this 
is when she became his wife. I think, as I said, the narrator 
wants us to keep in mind the reality of David's sin. But here, 
David comforts Bathsheba. I would suspect she needed some 
comforting about this time, wouldn't you? I mean, we're probably about 
two or three months later after the death of the baby. But imagine 
what's happened to Bathsheba in the space of however many 
verses. Actually, it's been a period 
of time, to be sure. But David has taken her as his 
own. David has killed her husband. 
I would imagine there was some sort of an attraction or a love 
that she had for Uriah. She's lost a husband. She's lost 
a child. This woman stands in need of 
comfort. And so David comforts Bathsheba, 
his wife, and he went into her and lay with her. So she bore 
a son and he called his name Solomon. Solomon is relative 
to the word peace. Shalom. That's the identifying 
mark of Solomon's reign in Israel. He extended the boundaries. He 
provided stability and security. He ushered in a period of peace. In this, he was typical of the 
Messiah, who would usher in a period of peace. He would bring security. He would extend the boundaries 
of the kingdom of God, and he will indeed stabilize the people 
of God. So Solomon is born. Now notice, 
Verse 24, now the Lord loved him. Talk about God's favor and 
grace and confirmation after a very difficult season. Perhaps David, I don't see any 
hint or any whiff of it here, but maybe you and I. If we had 
heard from the Lord God in verse 13, or we had heard from His 
prophet, the Lord also has put away your sin, you shall not 
die. And then we had to bury a little 
baby, we watched a little child die, we might be tempted to conclude 
that God was not favorable toward us. Might we? I mean, if we don't 
get two donuts, we might be tempted to think that God isn't favorable 
toward us, right? We oftentimes are very challenged 
to maintain faithfulness in our Lord God in the best of circumstances, 
but then in the most difficult of circumstances, it becomes 
doubly difficult. But if, not suggesting that this 
is what happened with David, but just as a way of affirmation, 
confirmation, and a token of God's favor, they have this son 
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. Now, Solomon's throne name and 
Solomon's name was Solomon, but Jedidiah was a title that bespoke 
the kindness of God toward David and Bathsheba. Vanoy says, it 
does not appear that the purpose of the secondary name was to 
supplant the name Solomon, the name by which the child was publicly 
known throughout his life. but rather that it was given 
as a reminder to David and Bathsheba of the special place that this 
child would hold in the eyes of the Lord. It's almost like 
Solomon is a sacrament. It's almost like he's a living 
embodiment of God's goodness to David and Bathsheba. This 
is grace, isn't it? I mean, would you deal with David 
this way? I don't think I would if I was 
God. I don't think I would be this favorable or kind or gracious 
to him." He goes on to say, this is the son who would become David's 
successor on the throne of Israel, who would build the temple as 
the Lord had promised, and who would establish conditions of 
peace and security for the nation. So God Most High gives them this 
son. Now, we return to the battle 
with the Ammonites. It's kind of an interesting narrative, 
the way it kind of goes. In chapter 10, we see the Ammonites 
and the Syrians. We see the Syrians flee, and 
they're no longer going to help the Ammonites. We know from 11.1 
that Joab takes a battalion of troops to go fight the Ammonites, 
and we don't hear anything more about this particular war. Well, 
just by way of conclusion, the author wants to tell us what 
happened in this Ammonite War. And it's an interesting thing. 
If you look at these two chapters, where is the bulk? The bulk is 
upon David. The bulk is upon his life. The 
bulk is upon his conduct. The bulk is upon his sin and 
his wickedness and his abominable activity. Readers today would 
want to know what happened in the war, but God wants to show 
us what happened with his servant. God is underlining for us the 
basic requirement of kingship in Israel is faithfulness. And David didn't express that. 
Nevertheless, God overruled that. He gives them the son Solomon 
and he gives them victory in battle over the Ammonites. Notice. 
Rabbah is captured according to verse 26. Joab sends messengers 
to David. According to the prevailing custom, 
Joab sends to have David come to get the closing blows. Because if Joab does it, then 
Joab will receive the crown, and Joab will be the one who 
gets the victory over in this particular battle. So he has 
David come, and then notice in verse 29, so David gathered all 
the people together and went to Rabbah, fought against it, 
and took it. Then he took their king's crown 
from his head. Its weight was a talent of gold 
with precious stones. Now, a talent of gold is a lot. And for a man to hold a talent 
of gold on his head would be most difficult. So there's a 
whole host of explanations concerning verse 30. Go read John Gill or 
John Calvin or some of those other brothers. It was a big, 
heavy, valuable crown that David put on his head. I don't think 
we're to surmise David had extra special neck muscles and was 
able to hoist this crown in a way that no other man could. That's 
not the point. The point is they got victory 
over Rabbah, the capital city, thus they had rendered null and 
void the Ammonite threat. Now, if you remember last week, 
I said that this chapter contains some difficult things. I mean, 
the death of a baby boy is a difficult thing. Verse 31 is notoriously 
difficult, both in translation and in theology. In terms of 
translation, if you compare it with 1 Chronicles chapter 20, 
especially in the Greek translation called the Septuagint, and if 
you compare it with sort of the older versions, there's a difference 
between even the New King James and the King James version. Now, 
I'm going to go through this material because I think it's 
important that you at least know that this verse is in here and 
that what this verse says in other translations and in terms 
of the history of interpretation, we ought to have some understanding. Now, in verse 31, according to 
the New King James, the NIV and the ESV, the Ammonites were put 
to forced labor. You see that in the New King 
James, and he brought out the people who were in it and put 
them to work. Notice, them to work, that's 
in italics. That means it's not in the original 
text. That means it's supplied by the 
translators. Everybody knows that, right? 
In your Old and New Testaments, if you have words in italics, 
not in the New Testament when it quotes the Old Testament and 
that's italicized. But there are words that are 
put because there's not a direct translation. The target language 
and the language that is being translated, sometimes words need 
to be supplied to sort of smooth it out. Well, this is an interpretive 
call. This put them to work with saws 
and iron picks and iron axes and made them cross over to the 
brickworks or brick kilns. Now, the King James Version, 
the American Standard Version, and the New American Standard 
Version reads this way. Well, this is the King James. 
And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them 
under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, 
and made them pass through the brick kiln. And thus did he unto 
all the cities of the children of Ammon. It's a different interpretation, 
isn't it? On the one hand, you've got forced 
labor, new King James, N-I-V-E-S-V, and on the other hand, you have 
brutality in terms of ridding the earth of Ammonites, the King 
James the ASV, and the New American Standard version. As I said, 
a comparison with 1 Chronicles 20, verse 3. The Septuagint has 
it, and sawed them asunder with saws, and cut them with iron 
axes and with harrows. Now, not being an agricultural 
boy myself, I had to look up harrow. And here's what I found. It's an implement consisting 
of a heavy frame set with teeth or tines that is dragged over 
plowed land to break up clods, remove weeds, and cover seed. 
So you get the difference. One is forced labor. The other 
is the extermination of ammonites with sharp weaponry. Now, again, 
I'm only introducing this because sometime you're going to meet 
some pagan that says, oh, in 2 Samuel 12, 31, one of your 
heroes took harrows and wiped up the Ammonites with them. How 
do we deal with this? Well, it is intriguing. Most 
of the modern commentators take the new King James interpretation 
that it's forced labor. The older commentators, of course, 
working with the King James Bible, would take it in that way of 
brutal death. The Geneva Bible not working 
with the King James. You all know that the Geneva 
Bible or the King James Bible was done in part because they 
didn't like the notes in the Geneva Bible. The Geneva Bible 
contained some notes that King James thought were sort of anti-state. And so we needed to do a new 
translation. The Geneva Bible had been the 
standard Bible that persons used, and they read, and they preached, 
and all that sort of thing. But the Geneva Bible contains 
study notes, and it says this on this passage, signifying that 
as they were malicious enemies of God, so he put them to cruel 
death. Kyle and Dalich say he also had 
the inhabitants executed, and that with cruel tortures. Matthew 
Henry affirms that particular position. Matthew Henry suggests, 
and Gill even alludes to this, that the actual battle that takes 
place here isn't chronological. It's not the case that the child 
dies and then Rabbah is captured. What Gill at least alludes to 
and what Henry suggests is that David functioned this way, this 
verse 31 way, during that period when he was in sin. During that 
period when David had committed adultery and had committed murder. 
David was not living close to the Lord. David wasn't knowing 
the mercy of God, so David wasn't expressing the mercy of God. 
Matthew Henry said, and a sign that David's heart was not yet 
made soft by repentance, else the bowels of his compassion 
would not have been thus shut up. A sign that he had not yet 
found mercy, else he would have been more ready to show mercy. 
So Henry acknowledges that this is the way the Ammonites were 
taken out, but he attributes it to that period of time when 
David was living afar from God and he was not showing mercy 
to even his enemies. Now Gil says, it wasn't all of 
the people of the Ammonites, but rather the princes of the 
children of Ammon and the counselors of Hanun. Remember what they 
had done to David's ambassadors. Remember when David sent his 
ambassadors to Hanun? This wasn't long ago. And instead 
of Hanun receiving these ambassadors as a gift and a kindness of David, 
they shaved off half of their beards and they shaved off their 
cloaks so that their private parts were showing. So Gil says 
it was the counselors of Hanun that he dealt with. He said it 
was to strike terror into other nations that they might fear 
to use his ambassadors in such like manner. Gil also notes this 
is thought by most to be done when under the power of his lust 
with Bathsheba. Speaking of that Matthew-Henry 
sort of view, I don't know if he's dealing with Matthew-Henry, 
but he says, this is thought by most to be done when under 
the power of his lust with Bathsheba. You see, verse 31 could prove 
a bit embarrassing when you read that David is a man full of mercy 
and grace and compassion and wants to spread the love of Jesus 
throughout the world. And he takes harrows and deals 
with his enemies, or he takes these axes or the brick kilns. 
The brick kilns, he meant them to go into the fires. So Gil 
says, this is thought by most to be done when under the power 
of his lust with Bathsheba. in an hardened and impenitent 
state, when he had no sense of mercy himself, and so he showed 
none. But Gil goes on to say, which 
is injurious to his character, for this was a righteous retaliation 
of this cruel people. And then he ends his discussion 
by saying, but the charge of cruelty in David will be easily 
removed by following the translation of a learned man, which I think 
the words will bear. So Gil gives the positions and 
then says, but, we can translate it, the way the new King James 
does. So, not a lot of help from John Gill there. I mean, help 
in terms of the prevailing options, that's always a good thing. Calvin 
affirms the severe manner and then highlights the just judgment 
of God upon them. Calvin says that they had it 
coming to them because they had been born along with by God. Remember that Israel was given 
a specific prohibition against doing harm to the Ammonites in 
Deuteronomy chapter 2. Calvin argues that they had experienced 
the kindness of God, the long-suffering of God, the goodness of God, 
and they continued to abuse God's goodness, and they continued 
to abuse God's people. Calvin says, with reference to 
this situation, Hence, let us not doubt that after God exercises 
long patience with those who persecute his poor children, 
his judgment will be awful enough to make heaven and earth tremble. Remember the Ammonites themselves 
were pretty nasty people. Remember the first foray that 
we, or when Saul meets with Nahash the Ammonite? What is the deal 
that Nahash wants? He wants Israelite eyes. He wants 
Israelite eyes and he wants them subjugated to himself. In 1 Samuel 
15, when Samuel is about to hack Agag to pieces, one of the justifications 
of the rationale for it is because Agag and the Ammonites were vile 
and wretched to women and children. Amos 1.13 repeats the same sort 
of thing with reference to these people. So all that to say, I 
don't know if it's forced labor or if it was this vengeance of 
God via David. If it was indeed the reality 
that these men were put to a brutal death, they did have it coming. And in many respects, brethren, 
verse 31 is a walk in the park compared to what sinners will 
face on the day of judgment. This has always surprised me. 
that persons will affirm the sorts of things the Bible teaches 
concerning the judgment of God temporally, and then they'll 
balk at the temporal judgments of God and yet affirm hell. There's 
evangelicals today that preach and teach and believe the doctrine 
of hell, but trip and stumble and have all sorts of problems 
with the execution of God's just judgment in old covenant passages. You remember Korah's rebellion 
in the book of Numbers? How does God deal with him? He 
opens up the earth and he swallows them up. I mean, people don't 
like that. I'm not talking about pagans. 
I'm talking about Christians. We get embarrassed about God. 
Now, I'm not embarrassed if that's what they did. I'm just, I'm 
not the grammarian and I don't know all the particulars of the 
ins and outs of the text. But it is intriguing to me that 
it's the moderns that have a forced labor view, and at least as far 
as I can tell, the older brothers held the particular position. 
And the text does, again, when you compare it with 1 Chronicles 
20, and you see the way the Greek translators dealt with it, and 
you even compare the verbs that are used here, as I said, put 
them to work, is implied, or it is supplied rather. It is 
put them under saws and iron picks and iron axes and made 
them cross over to the brickworks. Excuse me. So verse 31, just 
keep that in your mind for the next time some pagan says, wow, 
2 Samuel 12 31, your hero David did these dastardly things. Our 
hero David did what was necessary to extend the kingdom of God 
most high in this old covenant, theocratic situation. Remember 
in the new covenant, we don't extend the kingdom through harrows 
or through tines or through brick kilns or anything like that. 
But you remember the Ammonites were people that worshiped Molech 
and they offered their little ones to Molech, that pagan deity, 
and they'd bounce into the fire and the flames. So it was a fitting 
destruction for a lawless people. Well, brethren, in terms of the 
emphasis, I've already mentioned this. Let me just read a quote 
by Dale Ralph Davis. He says, yet coming back to the 
Ammonites after reading all of 11.2 to 12.25 does strike a reader 
as anticlimactic. Perhaps that is intended. After 
the writer has walked you through the sin and shame and severity 
of the whole story, perhaps he wants you to think that the Ammonites 
really don't matter that much. Comparatively, of far more weight 
is the obedience and holiness of Yahweh's anointed. The conflict 
with Ammon was won, but the real battle was lost. he hones in 
on and focuses upon David and the sin that he had committed 
and the necessity for Yahweh to deal the way he dealt with 
him. Secondly, I think we ought to appreciate the sanctioning 
of this particular marriage. I think there's oftentimes confusion 
about, you know, divorce and remarriage and, you know, if 
a marriage is contracted under less than desirable situations, 
then that marriage is somehow null and void. Well, that's just 
not true. That's just not accurate. I mean, 
this started off in the worst possible way ever, and God sanctions 
it, and God gives them increase. He gives them Solomon. He gives 
them a future king, a type of Jesus Christ. We may do things, 
and we may engage in things. I'm not suggesting we go out 
and do them, but we may contract a sinful marriage, but God can 
overrule that and even bring good from it. Again, don't leave 
here tonight saying, I'm going to go do horrible things because 
I want to see God do great things. Don't ever argue that way. Don't 
ever reason that way. And don't ever think that way. 
But never disbelieve the reality that while this was contracted 
in the most heinous circumstances, God sanctions it. We learn that 
David comforted Bathsheba, his wife. He had relations with her. She had a baby. They named him 
Solomon. And he would reign as king. And then finally, the sovereignty 
of God and the suffering saint, kind of focusing in on that center 
section, not particularly, but this text I think does suggest 
to us some things that we ought to consider when we are tried 
and when we have difficulties. In the first place, I think suffering 
saints must remember theology proper. It's just amazing to 
me, in my own heart, and at least from what I hear from others, 
when bad things happen, it's like our doctrine of God goes 
out the window. Right? I mean, something bad 
happens to me, and it's like, wow, how does that happen? Wait 
a minute, Romans 8.28 is still in the Bible. Romans 8.28 is 
still an affirmation that God is causing all things, even the 
bad, to work for your good. You see, I don't believe Romans 
8.28 has in view good things. I think it includes that, but 
none of us need convincing that God works out us finding bags 
of money for our good. We just know that intuitively. 
It's the bad things that are in view in Romans 8, 28. We need 
to be reaffirmed or reconfirmed in that reality, that God is 
working these things out for His glory and for our good. The 
suffering saint must remember theology proper. They must be 
a David who said, who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious 
to me that the child may live? Where does the suffering saint 
go? He goes to his doctrine of God. He understands that the 
Lord God Most High is good. This is how Asaph starts Psalm 
73. That Psalm where he rehearses, 
but as for me, my foot nearly slipped. Asaph starts off with, 
God is good to Israel. And then he traces it down and 
he says, but as for me, my foot nearly slipped. I saw the wicked 
prosper. I saw the righteous suffer. And 
I had a crisis of faith. until I went into the sanctuary, 
until I renewed my theology proper." Brethren, the best thing that 
will carry you through suffering, trials, and hardship is to know 
your God, and to realize that Romans 8, 28, and Psalm 46, 10, 
and every single other promise that is afforded to the people 
of God is for our good. So when suffering comes, don't 
just vacate your mind of the doctrine of God. Know and understand 
that even my suffering is regulated under the sovereignty of God. 
A second thing that I think we need to come to grips with is 
anthropology. It's the opposite of theology. 
It's the study of man. Our doctrine of man needs to 
be up to snuff. I mean, brethren, why do we think 
we deserve great things? Why do we think we deserve, you 
know, long, sunny, 75-degree days? Why do we believe that 
we are entitled to three squares a day and a nice warm bed at 
night? Why is it, in light of our sinfulness, 
do we actually expect that any good will ever come to us? There 
was a man who wrote a book called The Problem of Suffering, and 
his whole argument was, why in the world, when there's a good 
God, do people suffer? John Gerstner wrote a rejoinder 
called The Problem of Pleasure. The problem of suffering in a 
sin-cursed world ought to give us no problem whatsoever. I mean, 
you sin, you get punished. What's the problem, right? It's 
the fact that any sinner ever gets a stake. It's the fact that 
any sinner gets rain falling on his crops tonight. It's the 
fact that any sinner gets any goodness whatsoever. So in this 
theology of suffering, we need to remember who God is, and we 
need to remember who we are. As well, we need to understand 
this point that I brought home at the very beginning, the forgiveness 
of sins does not remove the temporal chastisement for sin. I tried 
to show as well, the commission of sin does not always result 
in a direct immediate judgment of God. In other words, when 
I sin, I don't necessarily get struck with some disease. But 
it can be and is the case in the situation here with David. 
The forgiveness of sins does not remove the temporal chastisement 
for sin. Another thing I think suffering 
saints need to take into consideration. Maybe you have heard this before. 
If you've ever had a discussion with people and you've told them 
you're a Calvinist, and you start to explain sovereignty and predestination, 
and you give them both barrels, and they respond with something 
like, well, why in the world would you pray? I mean, if God 
has purposed all things that whatsoever comes to pass, why 
in the world would we pray? It's because He's sovereign that 
we do pray. It's because He has decreed that 
we do pray. It's because He is who He is 
that we pray. This is the ground and the comfort 
and the consolation of the praying saint. Verse 22, For I said, 
Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that 
the child may live? I trust in the sovereignty of 
God, therefore I pray. That is what Scripture teaches, 
not if you trust in the sovereignty of God, be a hyper-Calvinist, 
sit on your couch and just hope everything goes well. No, those 
who understand sovereignty are those who typically tend to pray 
more. Those who understand God's eternal 
decree, not understand it fleshed out, but the definition of it, 
pray. They go to this God, they present 
their supplications and their prayers and their intercessions 
and their givings of thanks to Him for all men, and that with 
confidence. As well, we ought to understand 
that the suffering saint does not pray, and even fast, in order 
to somehow twist God's arm so He'll spit out the answers. David 
didn't fast and pray as if, you know, God was some cosmic slot 
machine. He was dropping in the quarter, 
pulling back the handle, and out come the blessings. That 
is not the disposition that the saint has at the throne of grace. 
We don't come to God saying, well, I fasted and I prayed, 
so you need to lift this illness, or you need to make everything 
but that's not the disposition it's not formulaic it's not two 
plus two equals four it's not I pray I fast seven days and 
God gives us blessing because he didn't did he seven days of 
fasting and prayer from a man after God's own heart and God 
said no God answers. He always answers. This is another 
thing that bugs me. Oh, God doesn't answer. Yes, 
you just don't like the answer. No is as much an answer. If my 
son said, Daddy, can I have this? And I said, no, I've answered 
him. He just doesn't like the answer. And I've often thought that's 
what's happened with the people of... Well, he's not... Now, 
I'm not saying we stop praying or, you know, we become, you 
know, hyper-Calvinist. No. But if God has given us a 
decisive answer of no, let's be a David, get up, wash ourselves, 
anoint ourselves, go to the house of the Lord and worship as well. We need to understand the suffering 
saint does not leave off the worship of God. I mean, that's 
just inconceivable, right? Calvin, again, I've already quoted 
him, for to pray to God and yet to resent it if things do not 
go according to our wishes is not true prayer. It's just not, 
and we cannot fake it, and we cannot try and make it sound 
otherwise if we pray to God, we don't get what we want, and 
we pout, we whine, we grumble, we complain, and we don't worship 
God. We give evidence to the fact 
that our prayer was never legit to begin with. I said that was 
the final thing. This is the final thing. The 
typical significance of the passage. You ever heard about the father 
and his son in a sermon and the preacher said, finally, and the 
little kid says to dad, what does finally mean? And the father 
says, nothing, son. Nothing. In this particular passage, 
we learn or we are reminded of 2 Samuel 7, 14 and 15. Sin does not destroy the promise 
of the Davidic Covenant. Sin does not destroy the promise 
of the Davidic Covenant. If you ever doubt 2 Samuel chapter 
7, wherein God says that sin will not destroy the Davidic 
Covenant, then just read 2 Samuel 11 and 12, because you will see 
sin after sin after sin after sin, and then the birth of Solomon. The Davidic covenant marches 
on, and as well, finally, the reader is reminded of the Messiah 
through David's failures and through Solomon's birth. Well, 
let us close in prayer. Our Father, we thank You for 
Your Word, and even these difficult passages, difficult because they're 
hard for us. As creatures, when bad things 
happen, we are hurt, and there is grief, and I don't ever want 
to minimize such things, God. Help us to deal with this hurt, 
and deal with this grief, and deal with these sorrows in a 
way that is pleasing to You. Help us, God, to be worshipers 
in the good times and in the bad times. to help us to see 
and learn from brethren who have gone through things, and to see 
how You have sustained them, and to see how You have encouraged 
them. And God, may the church truly be a place where the people 
of God are educated experientially, not only from Scripture, but 
from the sufferings and the sorrows of the people around them. We 
ask that You would sustain us by Your grace and for Your glory, 
and go with us now, we pray, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen.