The servants ask rather than assume because David’s actions violate normal mourning protocol, and they need to understand whether the king’s reversal signals a change in royal household duties or reflects some spiritual insight they lack.

David responded by explaining his reasoning: while the child was alive, he fasted and wept, hoping God might be gracious and let the child live. But once the child died, he saw no reason to continue fasting since fasting could not bring the child back. He then stated his confidence that he would go to the child, though the child would not return to him.

The servants’ question exposes their confusion over David’s radical reversal of mourning customs. They use the phrase ‘What is this thing that you have done’ (Hebrew mah-haddabar hazzeh), a construction often expressing bewilderment at unexpected behavior. David had broken protocol by mourning before death rather than after it. The question format allows the servants to voice their confusion respectfully while inviting explanation rather than demanding justification. Their bewilderment is genuine; they watched David fast, weep, and lie on the ground for seven days while the child lived, behaviors they expected to see after death. The theological weight of their question lies in its opening to David’s profound teaching about prayer’s purpose and God’s sovereignty. By asking rather than accusing, they created space for David to articulate a theology of petition and acceptance that would instruct Israel for generations.