Is God Fair?
2 Samuel 12:24 NKJV — Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her. So she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Now the LORD loved him.
1 Chronicles 28:5-6 NKJV — “And of all my sons (for the LORD has given me many sons) He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel. “Now He said to me, ‘It is your son Solomon who shall build My house and My courts; for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his Father.
David and Bathsheba
David committed adultery with Bathsheba and then murdered her husband when she was found to be with child. God was not happy with David and the child that was conceived in this adulterous relationship died. David was told that the sword would never depart from his house because of these sins. David was forgiven and David’s life was spared by God. The relationship between God and David was restored after he confessed that he had sinned. But it seems unfair to me that God would use this couple to produce a son that would bring peace to the kingdom and who would mirror the blessings of the coming millennial kingdom. Why would the Lord bless the son of Bathsheba when David tells us that he had many sons? Surely one of them had lived a righteous life that could have been rewarded with a son to sit on David’s throne.
Is Life Fair?
We often hear people say that life is not fair. In my mind, Solomon would be one example where it would seem life is not fair. However, when we say life is not fair, aren’t we really saying that God is not fair? After all, He is the creator and the source of life.
How should one comfort a grieving widow or someone in pain on a sick bed? When they look around and see others that are well and enjoying life, when they see people who have lived unrighteous lives prosper, couldn’t they wonder if God is fair? Some have been born into poverty and some into riches. Some have been born as outcasts, some have been born into royalty. Some have been born healthy and some have been born sickly. Some are beautiful and attractive and some are not. Is God really fair?
Facts are Facts
Obviously, facts are facts. Life is not fair. People don’t have equal opportunities to live happily and healthy and wealthy. Even the Psalmists in Psalm 37 and Psalm 73 wrestled with this problem. In Psalm 37, David seems to realize that there is a here and now when the wicked seem to prosper, but there is a coming day of reckoning and the meek shall be blessed. The wicked shall be cut off and they will be forgotten. In Psalm 73, Asaph, the author, had to go into the sanctuary of the Lord to get his thinking straightened out. Alone with God, he realized that there is an afterwards. He knew that God would guide him with his counsel and afterward receive him to glory.
The Lord Understands
If life was ever unfair, surely the Lord understood. Born poor when He was really a king, conceived out of wedlock, persecuted by Herod, rejected by the Jews, crucified by the Romans, surely His life was not fair. He was misunderstood and criticized for doing good. But there is a day coming when He is going to have a bride clothed in white as the result of being willing to die on the cross. And the interesting thing is that those ;people who seem to be most neglected by society, the poor, the needy, and the widows, they are the ones who find comfort in a God who loves them.
In 1 Corinthians 1:26-27 Paul reminds us, “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;”
Let God be God
I am human and I still resent wearing hand me downs when others got new clothes. I still chafe at being the maid in the house when I would have preferred working outside and learning how to use the garden tiller. I still resent a lot of things that have happened to me and my own family in this life. And I still think that choosing Solomon was unfair. But I thank God that I don’t see the whole picture and that in spite of my problems with some things that God does or at least allows in this life, I am thankful that God still loves me. And as a result, I am going to let God be God and thank Him that I am saved. Certainly it was not fair that Christ had to suffer so that I could have a home in heaven. While life has not seemed fair at times, I can honestly say that God has treated me better than I deserve.
Bruce Collins
Meditation for the week of April 25, 2021