2 Samuel 12:16

16 David begged God to heal the child. David didn't eat anything. He spent his nights lying on the ground.

2 Samuel 12:16 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 12:16

David therefore besought God for the child
Perhaps went into the tabernacle he had built for the ark, and prayed to the Lord to restore the child, and spare its life; for though the Lord had said it should die, he might hope that that was a conditional threatening, and that the Lord might be gracious and reverse it, ( 2 Samuel 12:22 ) ;

and David fasted:
all that day:

and went in;
to his own house from the house of God:

and lay all night upon the earth;
would neither go into, nor lie upon a bed, but lay on the floor all night, weeping and praying for the child's life, and especially for its eternal welfare: he having through sin been the means of its coming into a sinful and afflicted state.

2 Samuel 12:16 In-Context

14 But you have dared to make fun of the Lord. So the son who has been born to you will die."

15 Nathan went home. Then the LORD made the child that had been born to Uriah's wife by David very sick.

16 David begged God to heal the child. David didn't eat anything. He spent his nights lying on the ground.

17 His most trusted servants stood beside him. They wanted him to get up from the ground. But he refused to do it. And he wouldn't eat any food with them.

18 On the seventh day the child died. David's servants were afraid to tell him the child was dead. They thought, "While the child was still alive, we spoke to David. But he wouldn't listen to us. So how can we tell him the child is dead? He might do something terrible to himself."