Re: We often see God as like our human Father

What I was reading in the Bible this morning is a wonderful example of one of the differences between God and some earthly parents:

It was the story of how David sinned first by continuing to watch Bathsheba while she bathed, then by having sex with her and then by having her husband killed. When the prophet told him about his sin, he confessed his sin to the Lord and repented of it.

God caused the illegitimate child Bathsheba bore him to die as discipline. Do you know what David did? Before the child died, he prayed and fasted hoping the Lord would change His mind. I can imagine his heartbreak! But when the child died on the 7th day, this is what David did:

2 Samuel 12:20 Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

His servants were surprised at his actions and asked him why he was acting this way when he'd been so desperate for the last 7 days. Here's what he said to them:

2 Samuel 12:22-23 He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

This is one of the verses in the OT that show us that God takes all babies and children below the age of accountability to heaven. David knew that one day he would see his child again!

So only after worshiping God did David comfort his wife and then get on with his life. Worshiping the Lord was the first thing he did after making himself presentable to be in the Lord's presence.

Even though God had just disciplined David for some very, very serious sins, did God continue to rub David's nose in it? No! Did God warn him over and over not to do it again? No! Did he bring it up later to remind David of how terrible he was/is? No, He didn't! Instead, God blessed David!

2 Samuel 12:24-25 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.

The birth of Solomon—the first surviving son of David’s union with Bathsheba—is evidence of God’s ability to bring about good in spite of our sin. Since God knew the end from the beginning, He was not stymied by David’s sin.

The Open Bible

She bare him a son … Solomon. The name means “peace” and was probably given with reference to the inner peace that David and Bathsheba could have before God now that the sin had been confessed. The Lord loved him. This shows the approval of God upon this child. He sent refers to God’s commissioning Nathan to give assurance to David with the divinely given name Jedidiah, which means, in current idiom, “God’s little lover.” The word from which the name was derived (Heb dōd) is from babytalk, and was assumed to express love. David’s own name may be from the same word. KJV Bible commentary.

How awesome is that???

see study on FH