David's Source of Comfort After Tragic Loss

    “Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshipped.  He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate.”  (2 Samuel 12:20)

     The events described in the passage above took place immediately following the death of the child born of the adultery committed between David and Bathsheba. For seven days David fasted and prostrated himself on the ground before God, begging that the life of the child be spared. God said no. The child died, David rose, cleaned himself up, and marched directly into the house of God to worship. That’s incredible, isn’t it?

     It occurs to me that David could have turned several places besides God to seek comfort. Let’s consider some of them now.

     David could have sought comfort in the world. He could have pursued every pleasure and succumbed to every temptation. He could have drowned himself in all that the world had to offer in an effort to escape the pain of his child’s loss. He could have, as many do, spew invectives at God as he destroyed himself through reckless, prodigal living. But the world held little pleasure for David. Too many of his nights had been spent hiding in caves and wondering lonely, barren ground for him to love the world. He could never turn to it for comfort.

     He could have turned to his fellow man. He could have built his faith upon man’s advice and wisdom. He could have found those who would have gladly pointed to the unfairness of God. He could have found men who would massage his ego and assure him that such a catastrophe should never happen to one as mighty as the king.  However, men had disappointed David too often for him to find lasting comfort there. Certainly he lamented on more than one shoulder and felt some respite in doing so. However, there was no lasting comfort there. David needed something more, something sure. He couldn’t find it in man.

     He could have turned inward. He could have decided that from then on he was going to keep his own counsel. But David realized that it was his own fault that all of this had happened in the first place. So how could David find comfort in himself when it was his own selfishness that had led to adultery, dishonesty, conspiracy, murder, and the death of the child? No, David certainly could not retreat inward to find comfort.

     For David to find lasting, true comfort he had to turn to the Comforter Himself. So too must we. The pleasures of this world are fleeting (Hebrews 11:25). Even the best of people will disappoint us (Acts 15:36-39). Keeping our own counsel is a sure path to spiritual ruin (Jeremiah 10:23). Let us find our comfort where David found his. Let us flee to the arms of God.