July 6, 2022

Passage Read: Matthew 1-2
Meditation Verse: 1:6

Thought

Solomon was born of Uriah's wife, and this phrasing reminds me that this marriage was one of great sin. The first child of their union was conceived of adultery, and the Lord took his life as punishment on David. But the second, the Lord loved and was chosen to succeed David as king. Despite the fact that David had taken another man's wife and had the man killed to legitimize his taking of her, the Lord didn't continue to oppose their union. He punished David pretty severely for the sin, but He chose the second child of their union to be king after David, and blessed that child with more wisdom and wealth than any king before him. Solomon was not condemned or rejected because of his parentage, and being the product of a problematic marriage didn't prevent the Lord from loving him.

Application

Though David's taking of Bathsheba was wrong and rightly condemned, the Lord did not continue to oppose it, but not only accepted it, He also chose one of their children as king. The Lord had several other sons He could have chosen ahead of Solomon, but He didn't. I see two things from this: The Lord does not hold a child's parentage against him so as to reject him from His eternal plans, and the Lord doesn't continue to oppose a marriage that results from sinful choices. He accepts the marriage, even though He punishes the choices that brought the marriage about, yet He does not continue to hate and oppose it. When two come together even under wrong circumstances, He still honors that they are one. I may not like how some people come together, but when they are together, I need to accept that and honor it, and be sure to have no ill will towards the children of such a union.