David and Bathsheba Part 3
“And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.” 2 Samuel 11:5
We open up today’s post with David receiving some alarming news. He is notified by Bathsheba that she is pregnant. I am sure David did what a lot of guys do in this situation, and try to figure out a way that the child is not his. Unfortunately for David, there is no way. You see, Bathsheba’s husband is Uriah. Uriah is a member of David’s army. There is no way that the child belongs to Uriah as he has been away at battle (where David is supposed to be). David knows that he is about to be found out in regards to what he has done.
David could have come clean at this point but he panics and his sin takes him a little farther down the road. Instead of confessing his fault, David attempts to cover it up.
“And David sent to Joab, saying, send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered. 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. 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.”
2 Samuel 11:6-9
David devised this plan that he would bring Uriah home on a leave and after some time with his wife, Uriah would think the child in Bathsheba’s womb was his. Talk about devious. David was planning on allowing a man to think a child was his for the rest of his life. The only problem was David did not realize the character of Uriah. Uriah was an honorable man and would not go home even though the king had told him he could. Uriah instead slept at the door of the king just like David’s servants. When questioned by the king as to why he did not go home, Uriah replied, “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.” 2 Samuel 11:11
Uriah says he could not bear to go home knowing that his fellow soldiers were on the battlefield. Uriah was a man of high integrity. Although he did not realize what was going on, Uriah would have been well within his right to go home and relax for a night. He had orders from the king! How often does that happen? He probably had not seen his wife in a long time. Nor had he eaten a home cooked meal in a while. I personally would have jumped at the king’s offer and not thought twice about it. But Uriah knew he was not the only one making sacrifices. He had friends and family out there risking their lives as well. Uriah was a good man who deserved better than he was receiving from David.
So how does David reward Uriah for his loyalty? With more trickery and dishonesty. You would think that David would have had enough of this ride that sin was taking him on. Not yet. David still was trying to figure out a way to not get caught in his wrongdoing. He comes up with Plan B. This plan was guaranteed to work. The worst part of it is that David uses the man he is trying to fool, as the very one to help carry out the plan.
“And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 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. And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were. 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.”
2 Samuel 11:14-17
David decides that if Uriah will not blindly cooperate with his plan then the next thing is to have Uriah removed from the situation. So, David has Uriah deliver a letter to Joab his commander. David knew that a man of Uriah’s integrity would not read the letter before delivering it to Joab. Uriah was basically carrying his own death sentence in his hand without knowing it. The letter sent by David basically tells Joab to place Uriah on the frontline in the most heated battle. Was it because Uriah was such a great warrior? Nope. The sole purpose was to guarantee that Uriah would die. David wanted to make sure that Uriah was out of the picture so he would not find out what David had done. David has reached an all time low. He is willing to end an innocent man’s life simply because he doesn’t want his sin to be found out. David placed more value on his public image than on a man’s life. David thought he was covering up his sin when in reality he was simply stacking one sin on top of another sin. The book of Numbers 32:23 states: “and be sure your sin will find you out”. David would soon realize this in a very personal way.