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A woman prayed that God would heal her son, but her son died. So she concluded that God did not exist, since he did not heal her boy. That is not how King David reacted when God did not heal his son. He fathered the child when he committed adultery with Bathsheba. We learn in 2 Sam. 12, that as punishment for this sin and the murder of Bathsheba’s husband, God let their son become deathly ill. David fasted and prayed that God would heal the boy, but the child died within a week. After he died, David did not pout, criticize, or blame God. He accepted it. He stopped mourning, got up, went into the house of the LORD, and worshiped. He amazed his advisors. They asked him why he stopped mourning after the child died. David replied, “I fasted and wept while the child was alive, for I said, ‘Perhaps the LORD will be gracious to me and let the child live.’ But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.” David reaped the consequences of his sin, but he repented and clung to God. Later God blessed him with another son, Solomon. He was the ancestor of the Messiah. When we fail, we should sincerely confess our sin as David did. When we do, God will forgive us because Jesus died for our sins. In mercy, he may later bless us as he did David.
