The account of God’s punishing judgment on David is written as a warning to us today (1 Cor. 10:11). God is not only loving and merciful, but He is also just and fearsome. On the one hand, God forgave David (v. 13), but on the other hand, He disciplined and chastised David according to His governmental righteousness (vv. 10-14). God exercised a severe punishment upon David because his sin was very evil. After David’s failure many evils, including incest, murder, and rebellion, took place in his family (ch. 2 Sam. 13; 15:1—19:8a). The source of the unprecedented evil in David’s family was David’s indulgence in the lust of the flesh. This shows that God’s chastisement and His governmental dealing with those who love Him may even affect their children.

David, being a man according to God’s heart, afforded God the way to begin the age of the kingship for the establishing of God’s kingdom on the earth for His coming Christ. How regrettable it was that David, at a crucial time of the evil one’s temptation, did not exercise strong control over his lust but indulged in it and committed a gross sin that offended God to the uttermost. God loved David, but because of his sin David lost his standing and position as well as eleven of the twelve tribes (2 Sam. 20:1-2). David’s sin sowed the seed of Solomon’s corruption (see note 2 Sam. 12:24^1a), which issued in the dividing of the God-given kingdom (1 Kings 11:9-13; 12:1-17), and the seed of the corruption of Solomon’s descendants in the kingship, which issued ultimately in the loss of the nation and of the holy land of their fathers, in the captivity of the holy people, and in their being scattered around the globe and having no peace up to the present time.

Meaning peaceful. This indicates that David might have expected to have a peaceful time. But from that time there was no peace in David’s family or in the entire kingdom of Israel.

Meaning beloved of Jehovah. After David repented to God (Psa. 51), God forgave him of his sin and gave him a son who was God’s beloved. Nevertheless, God still disciplined him for the sake of His righteousness (see note 10*1). On the one hand, God is righteous in His governmental dealing; on the other hand, He is loving and merciful, full of kindness, grace, and forgiveness. See note Matt. 1:6^3c, par. 1.