Battle Cry: The Story of Uriah

Introduction: Tom Hanks movie: Greyhound

Who doesn’t love one of America’s most beloved national treasures …. Tom Hanks?

Yes, this guy has been in so many good movies, TV shows, and even two music videos (weird).

I recently watched his newest film on Apple TV+ and it was amazing, like 90 minutes of nonstop intensity. I don’t know what it is about Tom Hanks and the ocean, but you put those two together and it’s like a guaranteed good movie.

His newest movie is called Greyhound and it’s inspired by actual events back in WW2. Hanks plays a Navy Commander who is given his first wartime assignment of safely escorting a convoy of merchant ships across the Atlantic Ocean to England, who is in desperate need of supplies for its citizens and military to keep fighting Hitler and the Nazis.

Seems like an easy way to spend WW2, huh? Just resupply others who are doing the fighting and in harm’s way. Well … not really. You see, the Atlantic Ocean is pretty big and unlike modern militaries today, America and England weren’t equipped with airplanes that could escort ships safely across the Atlantic. Because of this, ships were left unsupported by aircraft for 3 days. This unprotected area that these merchant ships had to travel through was called “The Black Pit.”

In this area of the sea, German submarines would camp out and travel around in Wolf Packs in order to hunt down and sink merchant ships. Because of this, the US Navy would escort these defenseless ships and fight against these German u-boats. This was a really important assignment because,  “Had the Atlantic been lost, so too would have Britain,” writes historian James Holland for History Extra. “There would have been no Mediterranean campaign, no D-Day, no VE or VJ Days. The vast, global supply chain upon which the Allies depended … would have been cut, and with it the lifeline.”

The movie goes on and, I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but it shows how difficult, frightening, and perilous this passage was during WW2.

While we aren’t on the Greyhound in WW2, a lot of us are living in “The Black Pit.”

Attention: According to recent research, polls show us that less than 30% of workers enjoy their work and feel fulfilled in what they do. 40-50% of marriages will end in divorce and 30-60% of those are a result of an extra-marital affair. According to one recent study, done BEFORE Covid, the average person will spend 44 years of their life looking at some digital device! Back in January of this year, 41% of adults reported elevated levels of anxiety, substance abuse, mental health issues, and suicidal ideation due to COVID, job loss, lockdown, or some other insecurity, like financial.

Those stats show us that we are living in “The Black Pit.” Those stats do not fuel me. Those stats do not excite me. Those stats downright depress me. Those stats should us that we are going through a difficult time and we need to reevaluate our principles in order to create a better culture, not just for us but for everyone we see.

Those stats should cause all of us to sound a battle cry against how our culture is trending, even in light of COVID. Those stats should cause us to cry out against what is going on around us and point others toward a more fulfilling life because, if are a follower of Jesus, that means you have found the source of the abundant life, the solution to your suffering, and a comforter who is always present and able to safely guide you through your black pits.

Interrogative Questions:

So, what’s your battle-cry? What is it that fuels your life so much that you have to let it out? What is that for you?

If you don’t know what that is for you right now, that’s okay! By the end of our time together today, I hope you can answer that question. So, be thinking about that question as we journey through one individual’s story today.

A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Jeff did a great job walking us through the story of David’s affair with Bathsheba who was married to a guy named Uriah, and how God gave David a second chance after royally messing things up. [YOUTUBE LINK HERE]

Transition: Today, I’d like us to revisit that same story, but try to gain some more insights for our lives by focusing on Uriah’s role in that story and what fueled one of the most underrated warriors in the entire Bible – Uriah the Hittite.

Nestled in the midst of the story of David and Bathsheba, which is arguably the most popular story in all of the Old Testament, we find a valiant warrior that is standing up against a scheming King. This story presents David in an unfamiliar role in Scripture. In 2 Samuel 11, David is not the victor defending the people of God, nor is he the victim on the run from a bloodthirsty and crazy King Saul. Rather, we see the humanity of David in an unfiltered and unadulterated way. The story of David and Bathsheba is scandalous, provocative, and worthy of an HBO Max mini-series. There is betrayal, murder, sex, cover-up, manipulation, conspiracy, an unwanted pregnancy, and potentially a political power-play from a sitting King against an influential family. But those are the things that everyone focuses on with this story, therefore overlooking the only positive role model in 2 Samuel 11 – Uriah.

Read 2 Samuel 11:1-18

Focusing on Uriah’s story, we see that he placed three fundamental principles over everything in his life. These principles governed his life so much so that he was able to stand up to Israel’s most powerful and popular king and with a battle cry proclaim to David that he would not do what he was being tempted to do.

Principle #1 – Purity Over Pleasure (2 Sam. 11:6-11)

Explanation: Uriah placed his purity over the temporary pleasure that David was tempting him to partake in.

We have an advantage that Uriah didn’t. We know why King David sent for Uriah, why he was trying to get him to have sex with his wife, why he got him drunk, and ultimately why he instructed his general to have him murdered. We know that David had slept with Uriah’s wife and got her pregnant and now we see David trying to cover up his sin by having Uriah sleep with her so that he would naturally, but mistakenly, believe that he was the child’s biological father.

Uriah refused to do this even though he was the only one who had the legitimate right to have sex with his wife. The reason why Uriah refused King David’s suggestion is because sexual abstinence was a requirement for soldiers on active duty (*See 1 Sam. 21:5; Deut. 23:10). David, as well as Uriah, knew this was the law.

David was hoping that Uriah would sleep with Bathsheba and cloud the paternity issue. He could have also been trying to trap Uriah in breaking a ritual law and thereby have a legal obligation to have him killed. Either way, Uriah refused to indulge himself because of this sexual abstinence requirement but even more so because the Ark of the Covenant was out in the open fields in battle with the Israelite army, while he was in Jerusalem reporting back to King David.

The ark of the covenant being present with the army suggests that this wasn’t just a normal military operation, but rather Israel could have been engaged in a form of “holy war” against the Ammonites, and therefore even more special restrictions may have been imposed on the military (*See Josh. 5:4-8; Deut. 23:9-11). If Uriah would have had sex with his wife, then he would have made himself impure before the Lord and would have had to wait up to a week and ritually purify himself before he could have entered back into the fight for Israel. So instead of succumbing to David’s tempting suggestion, Uriah stayed in the barracks and did not go and see his wife, Bathsheba.

Transition: Uriah prioritized his purity over his personal pleasure. He also prioritized his faithfulness over his personal freedom.

Principle #2 – Faithfulness Over Freedom (2 Sam. 11:12-13)

Explanation: Uriah was the only person in this story that had the legal and marital right to have sex with his wife, Bathsheba. He had the freedom to sleep with her. No one had to know about it. He had explicit permission from the King himself to take it easy, rest up, and refresh his marriage by spending some quality time with his wife. He had the freedom to choose and he chose faithfulness.

Uriah is an interesting character because he is a foreigner. Uriah is a Hittite and not an Israelite. He isn’t a Jew. He didn’t grow up within the Jewish religious system. His spiritual heritage would have been that of a pagan until someone along the way converted to the Jewish faith because Uriah is a special name. Uriah’s name literally means ‘the Lord is my light.’

Uriah lived up to his name. When life’s choices for him were always black and white but shaded by various degrees of gray, he didn’t rely upon his feelings or his personal freedom. Rather Uriah allowed the Lord to be his light and direct his decisions and guide him safely away from temptation. Uriah chose to be faithful to God even though he had the freedom to choose the opposite.

Application: Your name is probably not Uriah, if it is, I’m sorry – your parents must hate you. Even though your name isn’t Uriah, God still wants to guide you. He still wants to be your light. He still wants to help you navigate through this life so that you not only live your life but that you live it to the fullest.

READ John 10:10 (NLT)

10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

God has plans for you (*See Jeremiah 29:11), and He wants you to experience those plans to their fullest extent, but you have to choose Him. You have to choose to be faithful to Him, even though you have the freedom to basically do whatever you want to. You have to choose to open yourself up to Him and allow His light to come in and guide you. Follow Uriah’s example and sound your battle cry that God is my light (*See Ps. 119:105).

Transition: Uriah prioritized purity over personal pleasure, faithfulness over personal freedom, and lastly, he prioritized sacrifice over personal safety.

Principle #3 – Sacrifice Over Safety (2 Sam. 11:14-18)

Explanation: After weathering the storm that was David’s temptations, Uriah unknowingly returned to the battlefront with a death warrant in his hand. Following and improving on David’s orders, Joab likely sent Uriah and possibly some of his men to the walled city of Rabbah to “investigate” its defenses. While they were doing this, they were confronted and outnumbered by Ammonite troops, and some, including Uriah, died that day.

Uriah was one of David’s ‘mighty men.’ Meaning that he would have been a valiant and seasoned warrior, he would have understood military tactics, and he would have been a proficient fighter. Uriah probably knew that this was a bad mission that was doomed to fail. Uriah probably knew that someone had made a mistake because there was absolutely no reason for them to try and storm the defended and fortified walled city of Rabbah. They had the city under siege. All they had to do was wait for the Ammonites to either starve to death, run out of water, or come outside of the walled city to fight the Israelites out in the open. Uriah knew that this was a waiting game.

Why are he and his unit being sent so close to the walls of the city? They were going to be easy targets for archers to pick them off or they were going to get too close to the city and not be able to retreat back to their front lines in time, which is probably what happened. Uriah must have known that this was wrong. He must have known that Joab wasn’t following the normal military tactics for besieging a city. But he never objected. Instead, he sacrificed himself for the greater good of the Israeli army.

Application: Uriah could have stayed safely behind like King David did when Israel went to war, but rather he paid the ultimate price and sacrificed himself. We are called to do the same today.

Romans 12:1-2 calls us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God because of all that He has done for us.

READ Romans 12:1-2 (NLT)

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice - the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Sacrifice yourself by allowing Him to be your light, and let His word transform and renew your mind, and worship Him with everything you have. If you are going to truly follow Jesus, then you must choose sacrifice over personal safety. You must choose faithfulness over your personal freedom. You must choose purity over personal pleasure.

READ Luke 9:23-24 (NLT)

23 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. 24 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

Transition: Uriah placed purity over his personal pleasure. His faithfulness over his personal freedom. His sacrifice over his personal safety. Uriah will forever be remembered because of his choices and actions when he was faced with temptation (*SEE 1 Kings 15:5).

The battle cry that Uriah sounded that day still rings true.

Will you join him? Will you cry out against the temptation that is in your life? Will you cry out against the sin that is trying to destroy you? Will you sound a battle cry today that will change the trajectory of not just your life, but the lives of generations to come after you?

Conclusion: Uriah, like us, was ultimately presented with two choices. Who was he going to worship? Was he going to worship himself, his pleasure, his freedom, and his safety? Or was he going to worship God and place his purity, faithfulness, and sacrifice over his personal pleasure, freedom, and safety? We know his answer because we can still hear his battle cry today: “I will not do such a thing!”

What are you going to choose?