2 Samuel 12:23 But now he is dead, why should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. I. REMARKS DEDUCIBLE FROM THE NARRATIVE: — 1. That it is not sinful in any ease (with a reserve of the divine sovereignty, which is always implied or expressed) to deprecate the death of dear friends and beloved children. 2. God is pleased, in the course of his adorable providence, sometimes to visit the iniquity of fathers upon their children, of progenitors upon their posterity. You see a striking instance of this in the case before us. 3. Prayer is the proper exercise of the soul, amid afflictions and bereavements, felt or feared. "Is any man," saith James, "afflicted, let him pray." And to prayer David betook himself, on this very trying occasion. 4. Humiliation and fasting are exercises specially befitting times of trouble. To these also the afflicted monarch had recourse, at this time. 5. Submission to the will of God, under the loss of children or other bereavements, is the duty of all; and, when spiritual strength is ministered from on high, will be the attainment of the good. 6. The sanctuary of God is that place to which the bereaved mother may, most aptly, resort. 7. We should not only feel and cherish, but also exemplify submission to the divine dispensations. So did the son of Jesse; for when apprized that his son was dead; he rose from the earth, anointed himself, changed his apparel, and went into the house of God to worship. 8. The conduct of the children of God under painful bereavements, may often appear strange to others, though it be founded upon the best principles, and be capable of being justified by the best arguments. II. THE VIEWS CONTAINED IN THE TEXT ITSELF, "I shall go to him; but he shall not return to me." 1. It is the sorrowful declaration of one who had just been bereft of a beloved son the only son of his mother. 2. The statement before us presents to our view a person, amid his sorrows, meditating solemnly upon eternity, and solacing his soul with this contemplation. This was the state into which the son of David had just entered. 3. The intimation of the text is the utterance of one who is anticipating the hour of his own departure. "I shall go to him." There is but one way, as there is only one event, for all mankind. "It is appointed to all men to die." 4. The bereaved mourner is here contemplating death as an irrevocable step in existence: "I shall go to him, but he cannot return to me." 5. David is here anticipating a happy re-union with his beloved child, in a better world. Nothing loss, doubtless, could have either satisfied his faith, or soothed his spirit. III. FROM THIS SUBJECT WE MAY LEARN WHAT WE HAVE ALL TO EXPECT, IN SUCH A WORLD AS THIS. 1. It is, that death will, sooner or later, invade our families, and snatch from us the dearest objects of our affection. 2. The views that we have been taking also admonish us. that parents must do much good, or much ill, of the most influential kind, to their children. 3. We are taught, again, what reflection the disappearance of others from this earthly scene should suggest most naturally to our minds. It is the thought of our own departure. Finally. Amid dissolving assemblies, and the disruption of the dearest connections on earth, let us think upon that period and that state, when all the family of God shall meet, not one lacking, and the congregation of the redeemed shall be convened never to be broken up. Parallel Verses KJV: But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. |
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