Comforting Words

Comforting Words

Bathsheba

Read: 2 Samuel 12:7-25

She stumbled through the front door and collapsed onto the couch. The early morning light cast an eerie glow on the framed ultrasound picture on the mantel. Had it all been just a bad dream—the onslaught of cramping, the trip to the emergency room, the hours of frantic activity followed by sudden stillness? As she put her hand gently on her abdomen, her numb mind abruptly filled with questions. Where is my son? Will I ever see him again? Will he know me as his mother?

Bathsheba also knew the pain of losing a baby. When King David got Bathsheba pregnant and then had her husband killed, God’s judgment on this sin included the death of their infant. David fasted and prayed while his son struggled with his illness, but he stopped mourning after the baby died. David explained that he couldn’t bring his child back from the dead, but he would be with his son one day in the future. These words must have soothed Bathsheba’s aching heart. Despite the pain of loss, and grief for her sin, Bathsheba held on to the promise that her child rested safely in God’s hands. She would see him again.

Through the ages, David’s words have brought solace to countless mothers who have lost a baby or a young child. Regardless of how a child is conceived or dies, we can cling to the hope that if we accept Christ as our Savior, someday we will be with our babies who were lost to miscarriage, abortion, illness, or accidents. The Bible doesn’t answer all our questions about these situations, but God does promise that these babies are safe in his hands. Those are the most comforting words that any mother could hear.

[David said,] “I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.”

2 Samuel 12:23