A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

Night after night he went without sleep as he watched and prayed, but these were prayers
that would be refused. So intense was his prayer for his sick child that his own servants feared to
tell him when the child died. But when David realized the child was dead, he broke his fast and
returned to a more normal lifestyle. He knew there was nothing he could do to bring the child
back to life, and rested in the hope they would someday be reunited beyond the grave (2 Sam.
12:23).
The loss of a child was especially sorrowful to its mother. “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. And the Lord loved him” (v. 24). On the birth of Solomon to David and
Bathsheba, Nathan returned with a different message than that which he had brought the
previous year. He called Solomon, the newborn child, “Jedidiah,” which means “beloved of the
Lord.” The birth of Solomon was a confirmation from God that the sin the couple had been
involved in about two years previous was indeed forgiven by God.
But Israel was still fighting the battle at Rabbah. It was there David had sent Uriah on a
suicide mission as he tried to cover his sin. Now that his sin had been forgiven and that
forgiveness had been confirmed to him in the birth of Solomon, it was time to finally deal with
the problem at Rabbah. Joab had finally cut off the water supply to the city and knew the end of
the siege was very near. David gathered together his army and led them once more into battle.
When they won the battle, David had a new crown of gold and gemstones along with other spoils
of war added to his royal treasures. The Ammonites who survived the battle were enlisted by
David as manual laborers for his continuing construction projects. “Then David and all the
people returned to Jerusalem” (v. 31).
Though they would still experience complications in their lives stemming indirectly from
the sin in which they had engaged, both David and Bathsheba realized a ministry in the lives of
others born out of suffering they had experienced during that time and later. David’s confession
of sin became a favorite psalm among those familiar with the book, and Bathsheba trained her
son to learn from his father’s mistake. It is not surprising that her son would years later
remember three particular lessons taught him by his mother during his formative years. First, he
was not to give his “strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings” (Prov.
31:3). Second, he was to avoid the use of wine or strong drink (vv. 4-7). Third, he should be
quick to speak on behalf of and defend the cause of the poor and needy (vv. 8-9). The rest of his
life might have been different if David had remembered these principles in his dealings with
Uriah the Hittite.
AMNON: THE RAPE OF TAMAR
(2 Sam. 13-14)
Because David compromised himself morally in the matter of Uriah the Hittite, he lost
the moral authority and leadership he had possessed in his own home. Sometime after the victory
at Rabbah, a favorite son of David named Amnon also decided to yield to an uncontrolled
physical desire and in the process raped his own sister. Though the actions of his son angered
David, he did not apparently take effective action to resolve the problem.
Tamar was the daughter of David by his wife Maacah and, therefore, only a half sister to
Amnon whose mother was Ahinoam of Jezreel, one of the two wives he married during his years
as a fugitive from Saul. As often happens in situations where children of different families are
brought together into a new home, Amnon was attracted physically to Tamar. His initial feelings
toward her grew until he became frustrated in his desire for her and became lovesick for her.