DAILY?READINGS: Esther 2; Zechariah 12 to 13:6; Revelation 19:1-10
David therefore besought God for the child,… And it came to pass that on the seventh day, that the child died. 2 Samuel 12:16-18
As young parents we grieved when our newborn baby lived only a few hours. A friend offered comfort by referring us to King David’s example. When David and Bathsheba’s baby became ill, he fasted and wept. But when the child died he changed from mourning to worshipping saying, “Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he cannot return to me” (2 Sam. 12:23). If David was confident that his child was in heaven, we could be assured as well. Our spirits calmed and were glad that our baby girl had been spared earth’s trials and instead was eternally blessed. —E. Dyck
Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe on His gentle breast,
There by His love o’er shadowed, sweetly my soul shall rest.
—Fanny J. Crosby