2 Samuel 12 teaches us much about mercy and grace and the possibility of restoration and fresh starts. But it also teaches us about the consequences of our sins. Nathan brings a word of judgment to David, which will reverberate down through David’s life. Not only is he told that the son conceived in adultery will die, but he is warned that violence will ensue in his own family and that his secret adultery will be repaid with open adultery from his own household. Much of the rest of 2 Samuel goes on to chronicle how this is fulfilled.
We can know the glories of forgiveness and fresh starts, but we also have to deal with the consequences of our actions, for we reap what we sow. David sowed death by murdering Uriah, and must see four of his sons die subsequently. He sowed deceit and betrayal and reaped deception and betrayal in the person of Ahithophel. He sowed sexual sin and reaped that through his sons’ behaviour.
The lessons David had to learn were hard, but we see from the way he accepted God’s judgment that his repentance is real. He knows that God is just and cannot turn a blind eye to sin. He may mourn, but he is able to trust God’s goodness, even in times of difficulty and heartache.
