Once David confesses, he is assured that God has forgiven his sin and David will not die in his sin. However, David suffers for the rest of his life. Is that punishment, judgment, discipline?

What tragedies come on David? The baby born to David and Bathsheba will die and in the future David’s son will try to take the kingdom from him.

Is David getting what he deserved? No! David deserved to die. The wages of sin is death. He deserved death. He deserved hell.

God is merciful and when David confesses his sin, God is faithful and just to forgive his sin and cleanse him from his unrighteousness.

So, if David’s sin was removed, why the trouble? We can’t be left on our own. When we are left in our blessings, we get lazy. David was blessed and got lazy. We need our troubles to keep us turning to the Lord, to keep us awake, so we don’t go to sleep spiritually.

But there is something else too. We reap what we sow. Sin has consequences in the physical world. We are told why David’s baby had to die. God says that because David utterly scorned the Lord the baby had to die. David rejected God, deemed God unworthy by his choice to sin. Because of that, the baby had to die.

David hears this but still fasts and prays for the baby’s life. He knows God. He knows God as merciful.

God doesn’t always make us suffer under our sin. Thank God! We wouldn’t be able to stand under the crushing weight.

Jesus healed everyone who came to Him. Some of those healed were sick because of their sin. He still healed them. They were all sinners worthy of death, but He healed them.

God protects us from what we invited on ourselves by our sin, or He relieves and delivers us from what we brought on ourselves by our sin, or He cares for us through the trial we brought on by our sin.

He doesn’t abandon us. He doesn’t stop loving us. He doesn’t stop caring about us. His will is that you be saved and be with Him.

He can’t be with sin. He will allow you to suffer the consequences you needed in order to fear God to keep your heart set on obeying Him. He does it only out of the goodness of His heart and His amazing steadfast love for you.