Then the woman said, Let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak one word unto my lord the king. And he said, Say on.
The woman of Tekoa asks the king for leave to speak a single word to him, and David grants the request and bids her go on. Her asking belongs to Joab's scheme of intercession to soften David toward Absalom and to effect Absalom's restoration. The verse lies within the account of David's family troubles as retribution for his wrongdoing, especially his conduct toward Uriah. That retribution continued through the rest of David's life, chiefly within his own family.
The larger history in 2 Samuel 11-24 and 1 Kings 1-2 shows how fully Nathan's denunciation was fulfilled in the judgments that fell upon David after his great wickedness in the matter of Uriah, by which he gave great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. That transgression is not covered up or excused, and David himself humbly confessed it for all future time. The verse belongs to the history of David's reign recording the difficulties he met and the sad consequences of his many wives and of sons he could not control, including Absalom's rebellion against him and the death of the petted idol of the kingdom, David's lament and his return to Jerusalem, his troubles with Joab, and his numbering of the people. It stands in the history of David's heavy disgrace and sorrow on account of his sons Amnon and Absalom, including his flight from Jerusalem and war against Absalom. All the miseries that came upon the king in this history are traced largely to the awful evil of a multiplicity of wives.
The account is told with such detailed faithfulness that it stamps the whole history with inspiration and shows that God does not hide the sins of even the greatest of kings. David's yielding to intercession for another's sake stands with his forgiveness of Nabal at Abigail's pleading, his love to lame Mephibosheth for Jonathan's sake, Pharaoh's favor to Jacob's house for Joseph's sake, and Joseph's pleasure when his brothers brought Benjamin. As David was moved for another's sake, God shows still greater favor for Jesus' sake, smiling on all who bring the child Jesus in their arms as Simeon did, so that even great displeasure becomes calm and quiet as the sea became when Jonah was cast into it, upon sight of His well-beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. The parable has been appealed to by those who hold it to portray Mary pleading with God for sinners, arguing that because she has lost Jesus she asks God not to let her lose humanity too, and that God will not condemn sinners who turn to Mary and for whom she prays, since they have been given to her as children.
The woman of Tekoa asks the king for leave to speak a single word to him, and David grants the request and bids her go on. Her asking belongs to Joab's scheme of intercession to soften David toward Absalom and to effect Absalom's restoration. The verse lies within the account of David's family troubles as retribution for his wrongdoing, especially his conduct toward Uriah. That retribution continued through the rest of David's life, chiefly within his own family.
The larger history in 2 Samuel 11-24 and 1 Kings 1-2 shows how fully Nathan's denunciation was fulfilled in the judgments that fell upon David after his great wickedness in the matter of Uriah, by which he gave great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. That transgression is not covered up or excused, and David himself humbly confessed it for all future time. The verse belongs to the history of David's reign recording the difficulties he met and the sad consequences of his many wives and of sons he could not control, including Absalom's rebellion against him and the death of the petted idol of the kingdom, David's lament and his return to Jerusalem, his troubles with Joab, and his numbering of the people. It stands in the history of David's heavy disgrace and sorrow on account of his sons Amnon and Absalom, including his flight from Jerusalem and war against Absalom. All the miseries that came upon the king in this history are traced largely to the awful evil of a multiplicity of wives.
The account is told with such detailed faithfulness that it stamps the whole history with inspiration and shows that God does not hide the sins of even the greatest of kings. David's yielding to intercession for another's sake stands with his forgiveness of Nabal at Abigail's pleading, his love to lame Mephibosheth for Jonathan's sake, Pharaoh's favor to Jacob's house for Joseph's sake, and Joseph's pleasure when his brothers brought Benjamin. As David was moved for another's sake, God shows still greater favor for Jesus' sake, smiling on all who bring the child Jesus in their arms as Simeon did, so that even great displeasure becomes calm and quiet as the sea became when Jonah was cast into it, upon sight of His well-beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. The parable has been appealed to by those who hold it to portray Mary pleading with God for sinners, arguing that because she has lost Jesus she asks God not to let her lose humanity too, and that God will not condemn sinners who turn to Mary and for whom she prays, since they have been given to her as children.