Good Monday to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Have you ever found yourself in what you thought was a ‘no win’ situation? No matter what option you considered, you felt only disaster awaited you? Over the past three days we’ve been watching carefully as King David of Israel was painting himself into a corner, working his ‘cover up’ plan further and further into a ‘no win’ situation.
I left you yesterday watching Uriah, one of David’s faithful soldiers, leave King David with a special sealed parchment in his hand, heading back to the battlefield. Upon arrival Uriah did as King David instructed, and he gave the parchment to Joab, the commander of the army of Israel. Uriah had no idea what was written on the parchment, and I doubt you and I can imagine what Joab thought as he read the instructions King David had written to him.
2 Samuel 6:16-24 is the record of what happened as a result of that parchment being faithfully delivered. It’s one of the darkest moments in the entire history of the leadership of Israel down through the generations. A faithful, honorable soldier, Mr. Uriah was sent by his commander Joab, to the most dangerous part of the battle front line, and Uriah was left unprotected, and he became a casualty of war.
But Uriah’s death was not an unfortunate casualty of war, it was intentional murder for David’s written message had instructed Joab to make sure Uriah died in battle. We shake our heads, and we clench our fists for things like this should never happen, yet when a leader is desperate to cover up his sin, sometimes, too many times, leaders will do anything, including the unthinkable, to try and protect their reputation and shift blame away from themselves onto someone else. You’ve seen it and so have I.
Joab called a messenger and sent him back to Jerusalem to give King David an update on the war. Joab gave him strict instructions to include this statement, no matter how the King might react to the messenger’s report: “…your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.” (2 Samuel 11:21) The record says: “The messenger set out, and when he arrived in Jerusalem, he told King David everything Joab had sent him to say, including ‘your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.”
What do you suppose King David felt in that moment, my friends? Relief? Safety? Maybe even joy that his deceptive, cover-up plan was apparently working? Do you think King David felt any conviction from the Spirit of God; any shame for the death of an innocent, honorable man; any grief for Bathsheba who would soon hear news that she was a widow of war? David’s response gives us insight into what he was thinking and feeling.
David told the messenger: “Say this to Joab: Don’t let this upset you, the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.’ Say this to Joab to encourage him.” And with that we can assume the messenger got back on his horse and immediately returned to the battlefield to bring this report from King David to Joab, the commander of the army of Israel. It was a dark day in Israel and, I believe, in heaven as God was watching all this.
I presume a heavy darkness came over King David’s soul. He once had been a tender-hearted young man whom God loved deeply and had commissioned to be king over Israel. He once had been a musician calming King Saul when darkness would come over Saul’s soul, but now David was in a place very similar to Saul and David knew it was his own fault.
His lust, his lack of self-control, his yielding to temptation, his pride, his refusal to respect God’s warning, his hard heart. The record says: “When Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. After her time of mourning was over. David had her brought to his house and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the LORD God.” (2 Samuel 11:26,27)
Do you know the deep grief of the death of a spouse, a parent, a child, a close friend? What was your death grief experience? How long did it require for you to find comfort and peace in your grief? What were some of the things God and friends did to help you move through your ‘valley of the shadow of death’? We assume Bathsheba knew her husband had come home to Jerusalem to update the king on the battle, on behalf of Joab. I presume as much as she would have loved to welcome her husband into their home, even for a brief visit, Bathsheba knew the integrity, the honor, the sense of duty her husband Uriah had as a faithful soldier, and therefore she was not angry that Uriah put his duty before his desires.
Now, with the news of the battlefield death of her husband, what do you suppose Bathsheba felt about his sense of duty and his willingness to die to protect his nation? If this had been WWII times, Bathsheba would have hung a gold star in her window to honor her husband.
We have no record of the burial of Uriah. Probably it was out near the battlefield where he died. Nor do we know if Bathsheba would have received anything from the army or the King to honor the loss of her husband and her deep grief. What we do know is that King David invited Bathsheba to come live in his palace as his wife.
For some people this might have been a great gesture of compassion and kindness on behalf of King David for a war widow. For David it was yet another step in his diabolical plan to cover up his sin, his greed, his pride, his deceitfulness, his adultery with a married woman and his murder of an innocent man.
That little phrase “but the thing David had done displeased the LORD” is not at all a fair reflection of God’s evaluation of what David had done nor the condition of God’s heart in response, as we will see tomorrow. I think we should pause right here and reflect. It’s not difficult for us to see how far away from God David’s heart has run.
It is easy for us to see how the fear of his secret sin being discovered had motivated David to devise a horrendous, evil, wicked scheme that is now ruining his life. How many times could David have stopped the downward spiral, repented and dealt with the consequences of his sin. But now, with Uriah buried on a battlefield far away and Bathsheba legally David’s wife, it appears David settled into a horrible new normal.
Several months later David wrote this reflection of what was happening in his heart in these dark days of dreadful deception: “When I kept silent my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me, O God; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.” (Ps. 32:3,4)
Do we understand David’s growing agony of his soul as he works so hard to keep his sin secret and live his lie? It’s safe to assume God seemed further and further away from David. But no, God hadn’t moved, it was David who was running into the darkness of his wickedness. It was consuming him and tomorrow we’ll see what God did about that! Here’s a song to help us reflect on David’s horrible situation… maybe you’ve been in this dark place, too?
Today’s Scripture: 2 Samuel 11:16-27.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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