2 Samuel 12:16

16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child; David fasted, and went in and lay all night 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 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die."

15 Then Nathan went to his house. The Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bore to David, and it became very ill.

16 David therefore pleaded with God for the child; David fasted, and went in and lay all night on the ground.

17 The elders of his house stood beside him, urging him to rise from the ground; but he would not, nor did he eat food with them.

18 On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead; for they said, "While the child was still alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us; how then can we tell him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm."