This post is from Moms Take Ten episode 48, “Moms in the Bible–Bathsheba”, which you can listen to wherever you listen to podcasts or at https://sites.libsyn.com/403493/moms-in-the-bible-bathsheba
Here, in our 11th episode on moms in the Bible, we come to the story of Bathsheba. If you listened to last week’s episode, I shared how there was one mama whose story I was having a hard time putting into words. Bathsheba is that mama. There’s so much pain and injustice in her story, and it is told in roundabout ways through the stories of the men connected to her. I wish we heard from her more, but despite the lack that I feel, God has still been teaching me things through her.
Turning our Bibles to 2 Samuel 11, we come upon Bathsheba bathing one afternoon. It was in the springtime, while her husband was away at war. As she was finishing, messengers from King David came to her home and took her with them to see the king. David had watched her as she was bathing and found her so beautiful that he was determined to sleep with her. Bathsheba was escorted into the king’s chambers and he had his way with her. As time passed back in her home, Bathsheba discovered she was pregnant and sent word to David. The first plan of David’s to remedy the situation- have Uriah come home on military leave and sleep with his wife-was unsuccessful. The second plan of action was to have Bathsheba’s husband killed. All of this was unbeknownst to Bathsheba. Unfortunately for her, the second plan was successful and Bathsheba mourned the death of her husband. She was then taken into the palace as David’s wife. The child that she was pregnant with died, a punishment for David’s sin according to the prophet Nathan.
Bathsheba was well acquainted with grief, as Naomi and Ruth before her. The loss of her first child weighed heavily on her. She had been by his side for seven days, watching as his life was slowly taken from him. What a painful experience for any mother. The way the story is written in 2 Samuel, it seems as though the child dies and then she becomes pregnant with Solomon. However, when we read the genealogy found in 1 Chronicles 3, we discover that Solomon was actually the youngest of four boys. It is unclear if the oldest listed, Shimea, was the boy who died, or the first of her children to live. Regardless, much time had passed between Bathsheba’s child dying and Solomon’s birth. It is interesting to note that the transition to Solomon’s birth begins with the phrase, “Then David comforted his wife” (2 Sam. 12:24). Here Bathsheba was, years after that painful experience and she was still grieving.
The experience of grief is often described as a continuous series of waves. Some waves are large and crash into us with the full force of emotion. Others are smaller and full of reminiscence. Sometimes the waves come quickly, back-to-back with a pounding that leaves us reeling. Other times there are periods of calm in between that result in the next wave catching us by surprise. It might have been years since she kissed her son goodbye, but the waves still rolled in, and she still needed comfort.
It is really incredible that out of so much pain and heartbreak, Bathsheba gave birth to a boy who would become one of the most famous kings in all of Israel’s history. 2 Samuel 12 speaks of his birth, saying that the Lord loved Solomon so much that he bestowed a different, personal name on him—Jedidiah, which meant Beloved of the Lord. Per his birth order, Solomon was not the first in line to inherit the throne. David, however, had promised Bathsheba that Solomon would indeed be king, and the Lord’s hand was in that promise. We discover in 1 Chronicles 22, that the Lord had foretold of the birth and reign of Solomon. In that conversation with David, the Lord told David that Solomon would be the one who would be commissioned to build a temple to the Lord and to rule over Israel. More than that, the Lord said, “He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.” (1 Chron. 22:10)
Right before Solomon was crowned king, it appeared as though fate had foiled things and Bathsheba was not going to see the promise fulfilled. One of David’s sons by another woman had declared himself king. At the prophet Nathan’s urging, Bathsheba approached King David to advocate for her son. After David heard her concern, he immediately established Solomon as his successor. Bathsheba was not only able to see her son made king, but she was able to be with him in his reign. 1 Kings 2 describes a time when Bathsheba went to speak with King Solomon. The passage, beginning in verse 19, reads:
“. . . And the king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat on his throne and had a seat brought for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right.”
I see such honor of a son towards his mother in that verse. He rose to meet her rather than remaining seated in his position of power. He bowed down to her, displaying humility and respect towards her. He had a seat brought for her and placed it on his right which is a sign to others that they should honor and respect her as well. She had raised him. She had helped him navigate his growing up years in a household that was filled with much chaos and confusion, backstabbing and power struggles. She had advocated for him and helped him achieve his position of power. She then got to watch as he led with such wisdom and authority and godliness. What a gift for any mama, and especially for one who had suffered so much.
Our children can be such an encouragement to us in our struggles. They are our life’s work, after all. We pour ourselves into them, hoping and praying that they do well, become adults who love the Lord and others, and carry themselves with integrity. We make tough decisions in life to care for our children. We sacrifice to see them succeed. The burden of our well-being is not on them, they are not responsible for our joy, yet they are very much tied to it. When we are journeying through difficult moments, sometimes all it takes is to look at them to find hope, to find joy, to find laughter.
The apostle Paul was familiar with this. He viewed the churches he had planted, the believers he had helped lead to the Lord, as his children. Repeatedly in the epistles, he speaks of how dear they were to him. He cared about how they are doing, he desired to see them, he wanted to teach and encourage them, he corrected them, all from a place of love. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul went so far as to say, “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.” (1 Thess. 2:19-20). They were Paul’s life work, what he was going to present before the Lord when he entered heaven.
Paul wrestled with the reality that he could not be with the Thessalonians in their struggles. He wrote the letters to them from prison, all the while wondering if they were remaining in the faith, if they were doing well. Accepting that he could not go himself, Paul sent Timothy to visit and bring back a report. Here was his response to Timothy’s report: “in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord.” (1 Thess. 3:7-8). He was bolstered in his suffering by looking at his children and seeing that they were doing well.
It is true that sometimes it is our children who make us suffer. Sometimes looking at them and what has become of their lives fills our hearts with grief and our eyes with tears. This is why the Lord is the ultimate source of our hope, our comfort, our joy, our strength. Our children should never be put in His rightful place. Even still, in your motherhood look for the ways that God wants to encourage you through your children, through your parenting, through his work in their lives. When you see it, thank Him for it and continue to press on. You are doing a good work Mama.
Lyssa Stoyko 