“Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and David named him Solomon. The Lord loved the child and sent word through Nathan the prophet that they should name him Jedidiah (which means “beloved of the Lord”).”
2 Samuel 12:24-25
We don’t know if Bathsheba had a choice when the king summoned her to the palace. However, scripture clearly indicates David was responsible for the sins committed—he called her, he slept with her, he murdered Uriah, and the Lord was displeased with what David had done. (11:27) It was David who received the Lord’s rebuke.
In some ways, Bathsheba was a victim—she mourned her husband’s death without getting to say good-bye, she went from being the only wife to being one of many, and she lost the child she had cradled in her womb for nine months.
However, GOD did not forget Bathsheba! HE gave her another son, beloved of the Lord, a son GOD made the richest, wisest, and most famous of all Israel’s kings. That precious son respected his mother, even provided her a throne beside his. And most likely it was Bathsheba’s lessons Solomon remembered as he penned, “Train up a child in the way he should go...”
We also see Bathsheba’s name in the New Testament, appearing among Jesus’ ancestors, a list I title The Line of Grace. Every person mentioned is a testimony of GOD’s grace, just like you and me. Whatever our experiences in life, whether results of our own choices or someone else’s, God’s grace multiplies and covers all!
