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Patriarchs and Prophets
But the message was sent him by the prophet, “The Lord also hath
put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.” Yet justice must be maintained.
The sentence of death was transferred from David to the child of his
sin. Thus the king was given opportunity for repentance; while to him
the suffering and death of the child, as a part of his punishment, was
far more bitter than his own death could have been. The prophet said,
“Because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies
of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall
surely die.”
When his child was stricken, David, with fasting and deep humil-
iation, pleaded for its life. He put off his royal robes, he laid aside
his crown, and night after night he lay upon the earth, in heartbroken
grief interceding for the innocent one suffering for his guilt. “The
elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the
earth: but he would not.” Often when judgments had been pronounced
upon persons or cities, humiliation and repentance had turned aside
the blow, and the Ever-Merciful, swift to pardon, had sent messengers
of peace. Encouraged by this thought, David persevered in his sup-
plication so long as the child was spared. Upon learning that it was
dead, he quietly submitted to the decree of God. The first stroke had
fallen of that retribution which he himself had declared just; but David,
trusting in God’s mercy, was not without comfort.
Very many, reading the history of David’s fall, have inquired, “Why
has this record been made public? Why did God see fit to throw open
to the world this dark passage in the life of one so highly honored
of Heaven?” The prophet, in his reproof to David, had declared con-
cerning his sin, “By this deed thou hast given great occasion to the
enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.” Through successive generations
infidels have pointed to the character of David, bearing this dark stain,
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and have exclaimed in triumph and derision, “This is the man after
God’s own heart!” Thus a reproach has been brought upon religion,
God and His word have been blasphemed, souls have been hardened
in unbelief, and many, under a cloak of piety, have become bold in sin.
But the history of David furnishes no countenance to sin. It was
when he was walking in the counsel of God that he was called a man
after God’s own heart. When he sinned, this ceased to be true of him
until by repentance he had returned to the Lord. The word of God
plainly declares, “The thing that David had done was evil in the eyes