And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her; and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon; and Jehovah loved him.
David's fasting is over, the first child is dead, and the story turns at once from a grave to a cradle. It puts two unlikely things side by side: a husband comforting the wife he had wronged, and the Lord loving the son born of that union.
The mourning is over. Now David can comfort his wife instead of needing comfort himself. One writer follows that same grace as it reaches Bathsheba:
The king is now able to console Bathsheba. Grace flows out to him anew. He has a son whom he names Solomon (meaning, Peaceable) and whom the Lord through Nathan calls "Jedidiah" (meaning, Beloved of Jehovah). Defilement would have kept Bathsheba from any share in God's blessings, yet grace brings her into the Messiah's line of descent (Matt. 1:6). She becomes the mother of the king of peace and glory. Grace delights to work for fallen creatures. It joins them to Christ, to show its "exceeding riches" in the ages to come.
David named this son "Peaceable" while God's word about a sword on his house still stood. One writer explains where such peace comes from:
The birth and naming of Solomon shows us how complete God's forgiveness was, and how fully it filled David's heart. He could be at peace, and could call this child of Bathsheba "Peaceful", even though the declaration about the sword on his house had not been withdrawn. The future is not untroubled, and yet his heart is. There is a true peace in submission, where we know God in His perfect love: that "perfect love casts out fear". How else could anyone ever reach it?
Nathan had come once before to expose the king's guilt. God sends him a second time on a very different errand:
Again Nathan, by God's direction, visited the king (2 Sam. 12:24-25), not to revive the memory of his guilt, but to assure him that divine favour continued. Bathsheba again bore a son, and David called his name Solomon, as God had directed beforehand (1 Chron. 22:9). The name itself was a pledge of peace and quietness in Israel during that son's reign. But we read that "the Lord loved him, and He sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and He called his name Jedidiah," that is, Beloved of Jehovah. What a touching, tender proof of grace on God's part, and of His desire to reassure His servant of it. Solomon spoke of the character of his reign. Jedidiah assured David that his child was an object of Jehovah's love.
Bathsheba lost one son and saw another crowned. Set side by side, the two births show two sides of God's dealings:
What happened to Bathsheba's children reminds us of the Scripture, "Note then the kindness and the severity of God" (Rom. 11:22). The Lord struck the child that was born of David's sin, and he died. But God chose her second child, Solomon, to succeed David as King of Israel... It was Jehovah's love for Solomon, sovereign love, that put him on the throne.
The second name echoes David's own name, and it points beyond Solomon:
Nathan calls the infant Jedidiah (Jedid-yah), that is, the darling of the Lord. He points directly to the meaning of the King's own name: David means the darling, the beloved one. Loved by God; chosen by God; preferred by Him above all others for the throne — what an expressive type of our blessed Lord! He is God's true beloved (Isa. 42:1), who in His due time "shall speak peace to the nations, and his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth" (Zech. 9:10).
Forgiveness did not cancel the consequences. Both realities run on together through the rest of David's life:
"Whatever one sows, that will he also reap." No wonder, then, that adultery and murder sprang up again and again in David's path. It is no surprise that the sword never departs from his house... All this thorn and thistle is the sure fruit of sin. But in the middle of it, one little flower springs up from this cursed ground. It is a type and witness that where sin had abounded, grace over-abounds. From this David and this Bathsheba, joined together by sin, a child springs. His name stands next in the line of the Lord's ancestry. And, as if to confirm it, he receives a special name, "Jedidiah," "beloved of the Lord."
Naming the chosen son here made David responsible later. When his affection drifted toward Absalom, he already had God's answer in hand:
Through the prophet's mouth the Lord had let him know (2 Sam. 12:24-25) which of his sons He had chosen; this son was Solomon... Could the king hesitate between God's positive word and Joab's self-seeking insinuations?... It is a serious thing to allow ourselves to be directed by our natural affections, however legitimate they may be, rather than by the spiritual judgment God has given us.
- Comfort. David can comfort Bathsheba only after the discipline has run its course. Grace flows out to him again, and through him to her.
- Peace. "Solomon" means Peaceable. David could give that name while the sword still hung over his house. Peace comes from knowing God's love, not from calm circumstances.
- Love. Nathan's second visit does not reopen the guilt. It brings the name Jedidiah, "Beloved of Jehovah" — God's own word that He loves this child.
- Choice. Sovereign love, not David's merit, put Solomon on the throne, and made him a picture of God's true Beloved.
- Reach. The consequences of sin still ran their course. Yet from this marriage came the line of the Messiah: grace over-abounding where sin abounded.
And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, for Jehovah's sake.
David's sin with Bathsheba had cost a child's life. Why then does God send Nathan the prophet to name the next son Jedidiah — "beloved of the LORD"?
Nathan had already confronted David over his sin. This second visit had a different aim.
That meeting between Nathan and David ended. God struck the child, and the child died. Afterwards Solomon was born. Again Nathan, at God's direction, visited the king (2 Sam. 12:24-25), not to stir up the memory of his guilt, but to assure him that divine favour continued... What a touching, tender proof of grace on God's part, and of His desire to reassure His servant of it.
David named the boy Solomon; God named him Jedidiah. Each word carries its own weight.
When Solomon was born his father named him Solomon, which means "Peaceable" (2 Sam. 12:24). The LORD had named him this before his birth (1 Chron. 22:9). But when the child was born, the LORD sent Nathan the prophet to David with a second name for him — Jedidiah, which means "beloved of the LORD" (2 Sam. 12:25)... Another writer has noted the link with David's own name. David means the darling, the beloved one. Nathan calls the infant Jedidiah, that is, the darling of the LORD.
One writer draws out what each name told David:
Solomon spoke of the character of his reign. Jedidiah assured David that his child was an object of the LORD's love.
The gift came at the point of David's deepest failure.
This son of Bathsheba was a son of peace to his father's heart. God seals him to David as His gift, with a love whose barrier cannot be broken through. That is what the name Jedidiah means: "beloved of the LORD." Let us bless God for a love that can so triumph over sin.
This grace did not stop with the king.
Grace flows out to David again. He has a son whom he names Solomon (meaning Peaceable) and whom the LORD through Nathan calls "Jedidiah" (meaning Beloved of the LORD). Defilement would have kept Bathsheba from a portion in God's blessings, but grace brings her into the Messiah's line of descent (Matt. 1:6). She becomes the mother of the king of peace and glory.
The name also settled who would rule Israel next.
The LORD struck the child born of David's sin, and he died. But God chose her second child, Solomon, to succeed David as king of Israel... It was the LORD's love for Solomon, sovereign love, that put him on the throne.
Years later that same word tested David's own heart.
Through the prophet's mouth the LORD had let him know (2 Sam. 12:24-25) which of his sons He had chosen; this son was Solomon, the son of Bathsheba, whom God had called "Jedidiah, the beloved of the LORD." Joab realised that David's heart secretly cherished the thought of making Absalom his successor, though perhaps David would not even have admitted this desire to himself. Could the king hesitate between God's clear word and Joab's self-serving hints?... It is a serious thing to let ourselves be guided by our natural affections instead of the spiritual judgment God has given us — however proper those affections may be.
God's choice of Solomon makes him a picture of someone greater.
Loved by God; chosen by God; preferred by Him above all others for the throne — what a clear picture of our blessed Lord! He is God's true beloved (Isa. 42:1). In His own time He will "speak peace to the nations," and His "rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth" (Zech. 9:10).
Another writer connects Solomon's name to a title of the Messiah.
The title "wellbeloved" points to the Messiah. The LORD's own name for Solomon (Jedidiah), the "beloved of his God" (2 Sam. 12:25; Neh. 13:26), carries that title. Solomon is a picture of Him who was the true Heir of the LORD's vineyard (Mark 12:6-7).
- Grace answers. God gives the name Jedidiah right after David's worst failure. It is a love that triumphs over sin.
- Grace names. He sent a prophet to attach the word "beloved" to the child, so David would know His favour continued.
- Grace includes. The same love that comforted David brought Bathsheba into the Messiah's line of descent.
- Grace enthrones. Sovereign love, not merit, set Solomon on the throne. David was meant to hold God's word above his own feelings for Absalom.
- Grace foreshadows. Solomon was loved, chosen, and preferred above all others. He pictures the true Beloved, whose rule will reach from sea to sea.