From the rooftop of his palace, David looked down on Bath-sheba, lusting for her, the beginning of a long series of sins (2 Samuel 11:2-27).

This song of David is a lament psalm.  It is a lament of the type that is especially appropriate for prayer to God when one’s sins have resulted in one’s own suffering.  Not all suffering is due to sin, but when it is, we should recognize our culpability for the consequences that have come our way.  Some commentators believe this psalm describes some terrible disease that David contracted, but we agree with Coffman, who describes it as  “a figurative description of the terrible mental anguish, emotional despair, oppressive sense of guilt, and mortal fear of David that his sins would result in God’s rejection of him and the consequent triumph over him of his bitter enemies.”

It is a stark reminder to us that our sins do often have consequences; and some of those consequences can be a grievously hard burden to bear.  It is secondly a reminder that our God is a loving and forgiving God to whom we can turn for repentance.  But it is also a reminder that we can turn to Him in our times of sorrow and despair for comfort, and that he will hear our cry.

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy

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some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.