Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him
with the sword of the people of Ammon. Now therefore, the sword
shall never depart from your house. ... Behold, I will raise up
adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your
wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor. ... For you
did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the
sun."
The prophet's rebuke touched David's heart; conscience was
awakened, and he saw how great his guilt was. With trembling lips
he said, "I have sinned against the Lord." David had committed a
terrible sin against both Uriah and Bathsheba, but infinitely greater
was his sin against God.
David Punished for His Sin
David trembled, because he was afraid that he would be cut
down, guilty and unforgiven, by the swift judgment of God. But the
message was sent to him by the prophet, "The Lord also has put
away your sin; you shall not die." Yet justice must be maintained.
The sentence of death was transferred from David to the child of his
sin. Thus the king was given opportunity to repent, while the
suffering and death of the child, as a part of his punishment, was far
more bitter to him than his own death could have been.
When his child was stricken, David pleaded for its life with
fasting and deep humiliation. Night after night he lay in heartbroken
grief interceding for the innocent one suffering for his guilt. When
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