r To wit, the evil of Puniſhment. 5 From thy own Children and Ly. t 7. e. Openly, ſo as thou ſhalt know it as certainly as if thou didit fee it, and yet not be able to hinder ir. « 5. e. I ſhall by my Providence, give him Power over them, which I know he wilt abuſe ; and I ſhall not reſtrain him from ſo doing, either by my Grace or Providence. x To one w ho is very near to thee, even thy beloved Son Ab/a/om. But God expreſſeth this here darkly and doubttully, that the accompliſhment of it might not be hindred. y In the open day, and ina publick place. The accompliſhment hereof, ſee chap. i6. 22,
12 For thou didſt is ſecretly : but T will do this thing z before all Iſrael, and before the ſun.
z 7. e. I will execute this Judgement. This God did by inclining David's Heart to leave his Concubines, to keep his Houſe, and to to
nal Policy, which readily ſuggeſted ro him that wicked and deſpe- rate Counſel ; and by cn Abſalom to theſe Temptations, and Jeaving him to his own vicious Inclinations, which God certainly knew would in ſuch Circumſtances produce that Effe&. So the Sin was wholly from Men ; but the ordering and over-ruling their Mi- ſtakes and Miſcarriages to this end, was from God. I3 And David ſaid unto Nathan, * I. have ſinned againſt the LORD@a, And Nathan faid unto Da- vid, The LORD alſo hath putaway thy ſin b, thou {halt nor die c. wp a I now freely confeſs, that Sin which TI have hitherto ſo wicked- ly ſmothered ; and 1 have deſerved all theſe, and far heavier Judg- ments for it ; and I am more troubled for my Sin againſt my Sove- reign Lord and gracious God, than for the ſhame and puniſhment that follow it. How ſerious and pathetical thisConfefſion was, we may ſee, Pſal. 51. b i« e. So far as concerns thy own Life and E- ternal Salvation : both which were forfeited by this Sin. c As by thy own Sentence wv. 5. thou didit deſerve, and as thou mighteſt expett ro do by my immediate ſtroke ; though poſſibly thou might- eſt elude the Law, before a humane Judicature ; or there be no Su- perior to execute the Law upon thee. 14 Howbeit, becauſe by this deed thou haſt given great Occaſion to the enemies of the LORD to blaſ- pheme &, the child alſo rhat. is born unto thee ſhall ſureiy die e. 4 7,e. To reproach both God and his People, and the true Reli- gion. For though theſe were not concerned in David's Sin, the blame and ſhame of which ſhould have been appropriated to him; yet Heathens and wicked Men would, according to their own evil Minds and malicious Hearts, faſten the Reproach of this upon God and Religion ; as if God were unholy, becauſe the Man after God's own Heart was ſo ; and partial, in conniving at ſo great a Crime, when Saul was caſt off for afar leſs ſin : and negligent in the Go- vernment of the World, and of his Church in ſuffering ſuch a Wickedneſs, as even Heathens have abhorred to go unpuniſhed, and as if all Religion were but Hypocriſic and Impoſture, and a pre- rence for Villanies. Belides, the Ammonites upon their ſucceſs againſt Uriah and his Party, did doubtleſs magnifie and praiſe their Idols, and blaſpheme the God of 1ſ-ae!. e Which, conſidering his Af- feCtion to it, and the Puniſhment threatened to the poor innocent Infant for his ſake, muſt needs be grievous ro him- 15 And Nathan departed unto his houſe : and the L ORD ftrook the child f that Uriahs Wife bare unto David, and it was very ſick. f With ſome ſudden and dangerous Diſtemper.
16 David therefore beſought God for the child g,
upon the earth.
execution of it prevented by Prayer, þ To wit, into his Cloſer, as Marth, 6. 6. to pray ſolitarly and earneſtly as he had done with others. Or this word may only note his progreſs and continuance in the Attions here expreſſed.
17 Andthe Elders of his houſe ; aroſe, and went to
him, to raiſe him up from the earth : but he would
the {word of the Children of Ammon p.
nor, - neither aid he eat bread with them &, v1 ; The
and David Þ fafted, and went in h, and lay all night | AStt
Chap. XII _
* take thy wives before thine eyes 7, and give them 4 un- « p,,.
cothy neighbour x, and he (hall lie with thy wives in 28. 3s. Ch,16,22,
come into Ab/alom's Power, by giving up Achitepbel to his own Car- -
* Pal. 32.5. & 51. 4
eb. W
g Suppoſing the Threatning might be conditional, and ſo the 197
'* Fee 38A 00, 3,
*Matt.1 * iChr 22, 9.
| That | beloved n the LOR.
T Heb. »: Wamebeca led upon i;
\ PFewo. X11.
The chief Officers of his Kingdom aud Houſhold who were there preſent. & This excefſive Mourning did not proceed ſimply from the fear of the loſs of the Child ; bur from a deep ſenſe of his Sin, and from the Divine Diſpleaſure manifeſted herein ; and particularly from a juſt apprehenſion of the Injury which he bad done to the Child by his Sin, which Juſtice obliged him to do his utmoſt to repair by Prayer, or other means.
18 And it came to paſs onthe ſeventh day 1, that the child died : and the ſervants of David feared to tell him that the Child was dead: for they ſaid my, Behold, while the Child was yet alive, we ſpake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then
{ Heb. do | vex himſelf, if we tell him that the child is dead?
kurt. I Either, i. From the beginning of the Diſtemper. Or, rather, 2. From the day of his Birth, which is the moſt uſual way of com- putation of Mens days or Years : for it is apparent, that this hap- pencd during the time of David's faſting, and lying upon the Earth, v. 20, whichit isnot probable that it laſted for ſeven days. wWhiſ- pering among themſelves, v. 19»
19. But when David ſaw that his ſervants whiſper- ed, David perceived that the child was dead : therefore David ſaid unto his ſervants. Is the child dead ? And they ſaid, He is dead.
20 Then David aroſe from the earth, and walbed, and anointed bimſelf, and changed his apparel, and came into the houſe of the LORD #, and worlhipped : then he came to his own houſe, and when he requir- ed, they ſer bread before him, and he did ear.
I S A M Q E TL.
Chap. Xull
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