2 Samuel 11: 1-15
In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.
One evening when David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”
So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.
When David was told, “Uriah did not go home,” he asked him, “Haven’t you just come from a distance? Why didn’t you go home?”
Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my master Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”
Then David said to him. “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.
In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, “Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.
A Thought
David had chosen not to go to war with his men; this was the first of his bad choices to stay in Jerusalem. David chose to watch a beautiful married woman as she bathed; he inquired to find out who she was. Knowing she was married, David still sent for Bathsheba and slept with her. After finding out Bathsheba was pregnant, David tried to cover up his guilt by bringing her husband, Uriah, back from the battlefield to allow him to sleep with his wife. Uriah, an honorable man, decided not to go home to be with his wife while the ark, Israel and Judah and his men were all staying in tents on the battle field. After another attempt failed to get Uriah to go home to his wife, David had him sent to the front lines to die. David made many bad choices that led to the sinful death of Uriah. We must be careful to train ourselves as to what we permit our eyes to see. This can be the beginning of sin that leads to other sins as they keep growing until we repent. Even after we repent, some sins come with unwanted consequences; sometimes even death. Be warned.
Our Prayer
Father help us to learn from the mistakes of others. Give us discernment to what things we allow to enter our mind, body and heart. Thank you for your warning that our choices come with consequences whether good choices or bad choices. Teach us to repent of the things that led to sin and disobedience as soon as we are tempted. We desire to hide your word in our heart that we will not sin against you in Jesus’ name, amen.
