Lent Devotion 3: Uriah the Hittite

Welcome

Good Evening everyone and welcome to our Devotion series tonight: Innocent Blood Unrighteous Deaths of the Righteous. Tonight we are offically on Week 3, and tonight we will be studying 2 Samuel chapter 11 through chapter 12 tonight. Glad to see you all this evening after having great food and fellowship together I look forward to continuing our series together. Before I start I would like to open in prayer.

Prayer

Gracious Father, thank you for the time we have had so far this evening as we came together and broke bread together with food and fellowship. Now as we get ready to dive into your Word in this Devotion Series we are working through we thank you for your continued gift this Lenten season. We come before you this evening with open hearts, as we ask you to send us your Holy Spirit to help us deepen our faith and draw us closer to you. Father help us embrace the lessons that you have in store for us this evening and help us to see where we need to grow in our relationship with You and Your Son. Lead us to true repentance and as we come before you, may our lives be a reflection that lead others to you too. Guide our thoughts, our discussion and our minds tonight, we ask you to fill us with your grace and let us go forth from this place tonight renewed in your Spirit and purpose. So we ask you to come, open our hearts, our minds, and our ears to your Word, in Jesus Name we pray, Amen.

Introduction

As with both Cain and Jephthah, this text focuses more on the perpetrator than on the victim. The story of the death of Uriah the Hittite is about David, not about Uriah. From the victim’s perspective, no doubt, their deaths were very much about themselves! But the biblical author tells them with this reduced perspective. Sometimes we need to be content with what we’ve been given if we want to understand the biblical message.

So let us read 2 Samuel 11:1-12:14.

 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.

2 One evening 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, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

6 So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 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. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.

10 David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?”

11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents,[a] and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”

12 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. 13 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.

14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”

16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. 17 When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.

18 Joab sent David a full account of the battle. 19 He instructed the messenger: “When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, 20 the king’s anger may flare up, and he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? 21 Who killed Abimelek (A BEE MEHLECH) son of Jerub-Besheth[b]? Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? (TA BEZ) Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then say to him, ‘Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’”

22 The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. 23 The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. 24 Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.”

25 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 encourage Joab.”

26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 After the 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.

12 The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”

13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for[c] the Lord, the son born to you will die.”

Devotion

Notice first, the name “Uriah” is shared by about half a dozen people in Scripture, including a prophet. And now, in a way, this soldier-Uriah (Uriah the Hittite) acts prophetically. Second, the incident occurs at a time when Israel is thriving under King David, who is about to complete the conquest of the Ammonite people (the same eastern nation that threatened Gilead last week). But David shamefully stays in town while General Joab takes the army out in springtime to lay siege to the city of Rabbah in Ammon. This decision leaves David open to boredom and temptation. David, though he is king, knows that he has overstepped his power and authority in taking Bathsheba. He is shown going to great effort to cover it up, even to the point of murder. Notice the pathetic comment in 11:8: David sends along “a present” for Uriah. Uriah, on the other hand, shows more honor and integrity than David himself. In fact, the storyteller intentionally draws a stunning contrast between the two men. Uriah commits himself to his position, saying, “How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!” (11:11b). And in contrast we see the way David sends Uriah’s death warrant to Joab by the very hand of Uriah himself. And it isn’t only Uriah who dies as a result of David’s secret orders; so do other “servants of David” likewise killed in the same deliberately foolish operation meant to eliminate Uriah. Nathan the prophet had earlier assured David of God’s eternal favor over David’s dynasty (2 Sam 7:1-17), and now (12:1-14) he speaks on God’s behalf to call David to account for what only Joab, Bathsheba, and David himself know about. But God knew all along, which makes a mockery of all David’s cover-up efforts. Nathan’s precise words are telling: “Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes?” (12:9) God’s prophetic words, in the sense of telling truth to power, are authoritative even over kings.

Further Reading

1 Kings 15:5 says: 5 For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord’s commands all the days of his life—except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. David is remembered for doing what was right in the sight of the Lord, “except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” The shameful incident, though David is forgiven and his faithfulness honored, is not forgotten.

Matthew 1:6 says: 6 and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah. This passage notes that the Messiah is a descendant of David via Solomon, David’s son “whose mother had been Uriah’s wife.” Matthew points out this reminder of the Messiah’s Gentile connections as his gospel goes to make deliberate efforts toward Gentile inclusion in Christ’s redemptive work. This point is also a demonstration of God bringing Christ to the world through the line of David, ironically both despite and directly through David’s sin.

Psalm 51: Have mercy on me,[a] O God,  according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy  blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words     and blameless in your judgment. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;  wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness;  let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins,     and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right[b] spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence,     and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,  and uphold me with a willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips,   and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;  you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;  a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;     build up the walls of Jerusalem; 19 then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;     then bulls will be offered on your altar.

This psalm is specifically denoted as a psalm regarding David’s repentance of his sin with Bathsheba. His tormented words are sobering and resonate with us who are equally sinful before God.

Genesis 4:13-15 similarly depicts Cain’s pleas to God, but without words of repentance. God responds with unjustified grace, sparing Cain’s life. It says this: 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.[a] 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.

Study Questions

1. David was presented with the temptation of Bathsheba and chose to act as he did. In what ways might we be tempted in our daily lives and why might we similarly give ourselves over to sin?

A. Lust and Impurity: engaging in inappropriate behaviors: having an affair maybe or viewing things online like explicit chat rooms or content.

Why? Maybe lonely, boredom, temptation, desire, sadness, depression, could be drug induce, alcohol, etc.

B: Pride and Ego: wanting to be seen right, ME I DID THIS ME ME ME.

Why? Need for control

C: Greed: making your wealth or possessions are more important than your relationships or ethics.

Why? Society makes it know right that you cant be successful or have a decent life or whatever the case might be unless you have lots of money and lots of stuff.

D. Gossip/Judgement: Speaking ill of others, spreading rumors

Why? Wanting to feel better about oneself.

E: Laziness: neglecting responsibilities or opportunities to grow.

Why? we are comfortable, we don't want to fail.

So why do we give into these things

Instant gratification, weakness in our faith, social influences, emotional pain or struggle, rationalization.… Many reasons

Even the ultimate King David, was human, he sinned, he fell from God’s grace, just like we do too. This story helps us to remind ourselves that even the strongest, most well liked, the fill in the blank here can still fall. We have our own vulnerabilities just like David did and the nature of temptation can help us grow with God for when we know what things we struggle with, we can ask for the Lord to help us be strong against those specific ones in our lives. And in turn our faith grows stronger.

2. God isn’t as blind or naive as we may wish he were. Read Gen 3:8-9. How do we try to hide and cover our sin from God? Compare with Psalm 139!

This is just after Adam and Eve fell from perfectness into sin from the deception of the serpent.

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool[a] of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”[b]

Psalm 139

 O Lord, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;     you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down     and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue,     behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in, behind and before,     and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;     it is high; I cannot attain it.

7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?     Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!     If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning     and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me,     and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,     and the light about me be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you;     the night is bright as the day,     for darkness is as light with you.

13 For you formed my inward parts;     you knitted me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.[a] Wonderful are your works;     my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret,     intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them,     the days that were formed for me,     when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!     How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.     I awake, and I am still with you.

19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!     O men of blood, depart from me! 20 They speak against you with malicious intent;     your enemies take your name in vain.[b] 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?     And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them with complete hatred;     I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!     Try me and know my thoughts![c] 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,     and lead me in the way everlasting![d]

How do we try and hide or cover our sin from God?

Deny

A. Convincing ourselves that our actions aren't sinful or harmful.

B. The psalm emphasizes that God knows our thoughts and intentions, highlighting that we cannot truly hide from Him.

Justify ourselves

A. We justify our sinful behavior because of the circumstances right.

B: God cannot be deceived by our justifications or our reasoning. He knows us, He created us, He knows what we are thinking!!!!!

Avoid God

A. Avoid prayer, worship, or being an active participate in the community of believers. We don’t want to think about what we have done, we don’t want to feel guilty or convicted

B. The psalm we read that even in our attempts to hide, that God is always with us, affirming that He is truly with us ALWAYS..

3. God called to Adam and Eve in the garden, and he used the prophet Nathan to call David to account. How does he call to us today, and what does he say?

4. Behavior begets consequences and our arrogance often leads to grief. Yet despite David’s sin and consequent punishment (2 Sam. 12:14), God remained faithful to David. In what ways are we similarly shown grace and faithfulness from God despite our sins? Pray that God’s convicting word may continually come to us through the Scriptures, and through our accountability to other believers.

A. We are still blessed right? You have your families, most of you have places to live, a vehicle, money in the bank to pay bills and necessitates, heat, clothes, shoes, a Church… The blessings are so much and have we earned them? No. God has blessed us with them and even though we continually fall into temptation and sin, He continues to bless us, He continues to love us, He continues to be there with each of us, He continues to prepare a place for us to come Home to Him some day. We are constantly and daily showed grace, and we should be thankful to God for that.

5. Lessons from Uriah’s perspective show that integrity and honor can and often do still lead to suffering. How can we pray “Your will be done” even when life is unfair?

We pray this in trusting God’s sovereignty and promises He has given to us in His Word and through His Son Jesus. We pray this to seek the guidance and strength we are in need of to navigate those difficult challenges that are in our lives. We pray this to ask for humility that we don’t understand why things happen the way they do and we need to rely on God, and His plan for us. For each one of us has a different one and we must let Him carry that plan out for us. We can also pray this to ask for growth and to learn so we can learn from our experiences that we are dealing with is life. We can pray this to show gratitude, a way of saying thanks and gratefulness to him, to help us let go of control and allow God’s Will to take over. We can pray this to God to share our struggles not only with Him but together as brothers and sisters. For support for one another, that we are not alone in the experiences we share on this Earth. And we can also pray this to understand that we don’t have all the answers and there is no one on this Earth that has them all. And that is ok. But praying this, and allowing it to truly be in your heart, will grant us peace, knowing that whatever is going on God is in control.

6. Like David, people in power face the perpetual temptation to abuse their power. (David would not have seen Bathsheba if he had not remained in Jerusalem instead of going out with his army.) How might those in power leverage their authority over those under them? Who do we have power over in our lives?

Manipulation:

A manager might pressure employees to work overtime without proper compensation, leveraging their authority to ensure compliance out of fear of job loss or negative repercussions.

2. Using power for favors

A leader might exploit the trust of their followers, using their influence to gain personal favors or manipulate situations for their own benefit, such as asking for personal sacrifices from subordinates that are unethical.

Who do we have the power over?

Our children/those who depend on us.

We hold that influence over them by what we eat, wear, say, practice etc, which in turn teaches them the same thing. If I cuss and swear every other word at home and while I am out and apart and my daughter hearts it all the time what do you think she is going to do? The same thing.

2. At Work

At work there are supervisors, team leaders etc who have authority over their employees, impacting their work environment, growth chances and overall morals.

Even here at church, people who would say I have a lot of authority right. I have been granted the honor of bringing you the Word each Sunday, leading you through worship. It would be pretty easy to lead you all astray right?

But ultimately who do we have the power over in our lives? Us, ourselves. We may not be able to control the weather or the economy or our neighbors or our animals or what not, but we have the power to open the Word, to read His Word, to spend time with our brothers and sisters who don’t know Him and teach them about Him. We do have the power to invite those people to come to church. We do have that power to love another as Christ loves us. We do have that power to forgive each other, and to ask forgiveness from our Father and Savior. We do have some power, its limited, but its still powerful.

7. As we’ll see next week and beyond, there is often a cost to being obedient to God. The experience of Uriah foreshadows the experience of Jesus. Demonstrating faithfulness to God in the face of the powerful can and often does lead to shedding of innocent blood. Pray to God for the strength to remain repentant and faithful even in injustice.

How do we in our world today see the strength to remain repentant and faithful even in injustice?

Ex: Even though this is happening to me (whatever it is) I am still acting faithful to God no matter what. Even though you are going through something difficult, and maybe terrible, or whatever, you continue to see the positive. You continue to see the honesty, kindness, the good from others, friends, family, leaders, and of course God. We also see this in the people, the community we are a part of, like here at Salem, other Christians in this nation and in this world. Rev Dr Martin Luther King said this “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” You can easily replace Hate with injustice couldn't you…

Prayer

Dear God, Heavenly Father

We come to you this night with humbled hearts as we had an opportunity to learn more about Uriah and the fall of David. We confess to you this night and every day for that matter that we are like David, where we often seek to hide our feelings behind this mask of righteousness. We know that there are Uriahs in our own lives, those we may not have seen at first, or maybe pushed back into the far depths of our minds or maybe even hurt in our own selfish desires.

Lord we know that even at our best we are still falling from Your grace, and we need your help more than ever. Yet Lord, we are so grateful and we are so thankful, and we are so blessed that your grace for us is more than we can possibly imagine.

We thank You that even when we are unfaithful, You remain faithful. We stand amazed that despite our betrayals and our "bathshebas," You continue to pour out blessings upon us—breath in our lungs, the love of community, and the promise of the Cross.

During this Lenten season, create in us clean hearts, O God. Renew a right spirit within us. Help us to live with the integrity of Uriah and the true repentance of David. May we never take Your mercy for granted, but instead, let it be the fuel that drives us to love others more selflessly.

As we leave this place, keep our eyes fixed on Jesus—the only King who never fails us, and the only Savior who can lead us home.

And Father we ask that you help us as we pray boldly the prayer your Son taught us to pray:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.