Wesley Corpus

Thine eyes - Openly, so that thou shalt know it as certainly as if thou didst see it, and yet not be able to hinder it. And give them - I shall by my providence, give him power over them. Neighbor - To one who is very near thee. But God expresseth this darkly, that the accomplishment of it might not be hindered. I have sinned - How serious this confession was, we may see, Psal 51:1 - 19. Put away thy sin - That is, so far as concerns thy own life. Not die - As by thy own sentence, ver.5, thou dost deserve, and may expect to be done by my immediate stroke. Besought - Supposing the threatening might be conditional, and so the execution of it prevented by prayer. Went - Into his closet. Elders - The chief officers of his kingdom and household. He would not - This excessive mourning did not proceed simply from the fear of the loss of the child; but from a deep sense of his sin, and the divine displeasure manifested herein. Seventh day - From the beginning of the distemper. And came - That is, to the tabernacle, to confess his sin before the Lord, to own his justice in this stroke, to deprecate his just displeasure, to acknowledge God's rich mercy, in sparing his own life; and to offer such sacrifices as were required in such cases. I fast - Seeing fasting and prayer cannot now prevail with God for his life. I shall go to him - Into the state of the dead in which he is, and into heaven, where I doubt not I shall find him. His wife - Who was now much dejected, both for her former sin, and for the loss of the child. Loved him - That is, the Lord declared to David, that he loved his son, notwithstanding the just cause David had given to God to alienate his affections from him. Jedidiah - That is, beloved of the Lord. Because - Either, because of the Lord's love to him, or because the Lord commanded him to do so. Royal city - That is, that part of the city where was the king's palace; though now it seems he was retired to a strong fort. Of waters - Rabbah was so called because it was encompassed with water.