Posted on 08/05/2003 3:12:19 PM PDT by Commander8
2 Samuel 11:6-27 11:6 And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. 11:7 And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered. 11:8 And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king. 11:9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house. 11:10 And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto thine house? 11:11 And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. 11:12 And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow. 11:13 And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house. 11:14 And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 11:15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die. 11:16 And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were. 11:17 And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also. 11:18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war; 11:19 And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the matters of the war unto the king, 11:20 And if so be that the king's wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye did fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall? 11:21 Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why went ye nigh the wall? then say thou, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. 11:22 So the messenger went, and came and shewed David all that Joab had sent him for. 11:23 And the messenger said unto David, Surely the men prevailed against us, and came out unto us into the field, and we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate. 11:24 And the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy servants; and some of the king's servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. 11:25 Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him. 11:26 And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. 11:27 And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.
Sin Is Compounded
How would we react if our most wicked sin were uncovered for everyone else to see? God, in His wisdom, allowed this record of David's sin to be in His Word, for we are told that "whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope" (Rom. 15:4). Today's text is the God-breathed account of David's attempts to cover his sin. Now note how one unconfessed sin leads to another. Daved lusted after and committed adultery with Bathsheba. Subsequently, he caused her husband, Uriah, to become drunk. Finally, he engineered Uriah's murder by commanding his army captain, Joab, to set "Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten and die" (v.15). His casual response to the news of Uriah's death suggests his satisfaction of the plan's result.
David's sins were certainly inexcusable and indefensible, but we come down too hard on David, how hard are we on ourselves when we sin? Do we immediately confess our wrongdoings to the Lord as sin? What was God's response to David's sin? "but the thing that David had done displeased the LORD" (v.27). Do we, like David, try to appear before others as if everything is in order within our hearts when we know it is not? Many Christians today live to attain the praise of men, but God can see the heart-He knows whether or not our righteous exterior is merely a facade. Let us heed the admonititon in Proverbs 28:13: "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." RJL
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