When God Says No

Psalm 51 immerses us in David’s repenting for his adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband Uriah. His expression of repentance in that Psalm stirs our hearts with its sincerity and frankness. We may, in our admiration of his prayer of penitence in Psalm 51, overlook that David suffered from consequences of his sin even after his repentance. Nathan, the prophet who confronted David, warned him that he would continue to suffer. The child conceived during the adulterous liaison would die. When the child became ill, David responded by calling for fire: “David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them” (1 Samuel 12:16-17).

After a…