David & Bathsheba

[Read 2 Samuel 11:26-27, 12:24-25]

…and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon.

Between chapters 11 and 12 of 2 Samuel, the drama of Bathsheba and David twists and turns like a soap opera. The child conceived and born at the end of chapter 11 dies. Bathsheba and David conceive again. The son born in chapter 12 fulfills the promise and extends the lineage of David’s dynasty.

We should not miss the reality that not all children survive their first few breaths, or days, or weeks, or months. In any era, infant mortality due to war, famine, disease, or cancer, brings despair, sadness, and the irretrievable loss of unfulfilled potential. Children dying should always upset us.

They were gathered at a graveside picnic style. A birthday cake with a single candle sat sadly next to the gravestone. As I approached the couple, I recognized them, but I did not know their story. Their firstborn son died in utero. They gathered graveside to celebrate his first birthday.

The carols of the season draw us near to the Christ child. The images of nativity and cherubic infants lying in mangers should bring comfort and hope and joy, but for some they are painful reminders of loves lost. For some, lamentation drowns out the tidings of comfort and joy.

Pause for a moment and offer a prayer for those who mourn the loss of their children. Pray for the Bathshebas, the Rachels, the Jobs, the Jairuses. Their pain is real and the glitz and glamor of this season does not alleviate it.

Pastor Kerry Krauss
Sister Bay Moravian



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