“And the Lord loved him and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the Lord.” 2 Samuel 12:24-25 ESV
The name Jedidiah means “beloved by the Lord,” and this is the only time Solomon is called this. This was where I saw God’s character on display in this whole mess of a story.
David sinned horribly. He got Bathsheba pregnant, then killed her husband to cover his sin. Bathsheba was taken from her home, widowed from her husband, and made a part of David’s harem. The child born of rape and murder dies without even being named.
So David— called out by God and judged for his sin, goes to Bathsheba— stuck in a marriage she didn’t ask for, and they do their best to pick up the pieces and move forward. They have a son they name Solomon. Solomon, which means “peaceable” (I had never picked up on this before, but in the Hebrew his name is SHALOM-oh).
What a picture of two messed up human beings, trying to find a way to repair, restore, or at least douse the flames of the dumpster fire David has made of his life. Desperate for some measure of peace, they name their son “peaceable.”
And then—God.
Verse 24: “And the Lord loved him.”
Regardless of how this child came into the world, the Lord loved him. No matter the sin of the father and the brokenness of the mother, the Lord loved him. Despite how far every human attempt at finding peace falls short, the Lord loved him.
God sends a message by Nathan the prophet—yes, Nathan! The same prophet who delivered the “You are the man” message to David, and warned him that because of his sin the life he’d built was about to go up in flames. God sends a message through Nathan the prophet that says, “I love this kid. You can call him Solomon if you want, but I’m gonna call him Jedidiah.”
Beloved by the Lord.
And verse 25 ends with a gloriously vague, ambiguous phrase, “because of the Lord.”
Peace isn’t going to come for a couple because they have another child. Or they reinstate date night. Or they go on a dream vacation. Or they agree to never bring up whatever shipwrecked them. We can name the child peace, but without the Lord, that’s just wishful thinking.
But when God says, “this child is beloved by the Lord,” that’s when true peace can be found. Not peace that we manufacture from the shards we sweep up, but peace we receive from the hand of a kind God. From a good, good Father.
Oh, and one more bit of glorious ambiguity: Verse 24 says, “And the Lord loved him.” “Him” who? “Him” David, who had fallen so far yet never fell out from under God’s love? Or “him” the child, who would not be held responsible for the sin of the father? Him whose parents named him Solomon in a desperate bid for peace, but from whose line would one day come the eternal Prince of Peace? Which him did the Lord love?
Both.
Because of the Lord.
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