15 So Nathan went to his house . 16 David therefore inquired of God for the child ; and David fasted e and went and lay all night on the ground . 17 The elders of his household stood beside him in order to raise him up from the ground , but he was unwilling e and would not eat food with them. 18 Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died . And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead , for they said , "Behold , while the child was still alive , we spoke to him and he did not listen to our voice . How then can we tell him that the child is dead , since he might do himself harm !" 19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead ; so David said to his servants , "Is the child dead ?" And they said , "He is dead ." 20 So David arose from the ground , washed , anointed himself, and changed his clothes ; and he came into the house of the Lord and worshiped . Then he came to his own house , and when he requested , they set food before him and he ate . 21 Then his servants said to him, "What is this thing that you have done ? While the child was alive , you fasted and wept ; but when the child died , you arose and ate food ." 22 He said , "While the child was still alive , I fasted and wept ; for I said , ' Who knows , the Lord may be gracious to me, that the child may live .' 23 "But now he has died ; why should I fast ? Can I bring him back again ? I will go to him, but he will not return to me." 24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba , and went in to her and lay with her; and she gave birth to a son , and he named e him Solomon . Now the Lord loved him 25 and sent word through Nathan the prophet , and he named e him Jedidiah for the Lord'S sake .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Samuel 12:15-25
Commentary on 2 Samuel 12:15-25
(Read 2 Samuel 12:15-25)
David now penned the 51st Psalm, in which, though he had been assured that his sin was pardoned, he prays earnestly for pardon, and greatly laments his sin. He was willing to bear the shame of it, to have it ever before him, to be continually upbraided with it. God gives us leave to be earnest with him in prayer for particular blessings, from trust in his power and general mercy, though we have no particular promise to build upon. David patiently submitted to the will of God in the death of one child, and God made up the loss to his advantage, in the birth of another. The way to have creature comforts continued or restored, or the loss made up some other way, is cheerfully to resign them to God. God, by his grace, particularly owned and favoured that son, and ordered him to be called Jedidiah, Beloved of the Lord. Our prayers for our children are graciously and as fully answered when some of them die in their infancy, for they are well taken care of, and when others live, "beloved of the Lord."