2 Samuel 11:10-17
When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died.
Uriah was a Hittite. For the sake of argument, let’s assume that not being a Jew, he simply fought for Israel as a mercenary. We don’t know that, but let’s just say he was simply a foreigner handy to fight Israel’s enemies but essentially an opportunist selling his sword. If so, then his devotion to principle is astonishing.
King David recalled Uriah from the battlefield as a subterfuge. David had violated Uriah’s wife, conceiving a child by her, so it doesn’t take great imagination to see David’s scheme to cover his tracks by bringing the woman’s husband back for a weekend early in her pregnancy. Uriah, without any knowledge of this background, suppresses his own privilege for the sake of principle. He has men and fellow officers in the field, not to mention the Ark of God, and he would keep common cause with them even while away.
Rats!
Now, let’s put the best construction on it. Let’s suppose Uriah was a proselyte to Judaism. After all, he has a Hebrew wife and is referred to by a Hebrew name, so this isn't a stretch. In this case he is not merely a soldier of fortune but a loyal worshiper of Jehovah. If so, his devotion is not simply to principle but to a personal profession of faith. How refreshing is this!
Rats!
King David was the most privileged and blessed of men. Leave aside all the wealth, power, prestige, and popularity he had in Israel. Leave aside his God-given talents as a musician and poet. Leave aside his personal covey of children and royal consorts. Above all that, David was beloved by God. The name David means exactly that, “beloved.” God dearly loved him. Of David, the axiom should apply: To whom much is given, much is expected. (Luke 12:48)
Rats!
Here is David, a man of God, thoroughly endowed with every conceivable favor, yet he is excelled by Uriah, a religious novice at best or a rank unbeliever at worst. Either way, David is disgraced. You see, it doesn’t matter who you are or by whom you compare yourself. When sin occurs in the life of a Christian, there can be no pulling rank. Just because David is highly graced, there are no “complimentaries” (“comps”) in the kingdom of God.
David was playing roulette with Bathsheba. Clearly he was playing fast and loose. But unlike at a casino where you earn “comps” by how much you play, not by how much you lose, David made a terrible and wicked misjudgment. It wasn't fundamentally his adultery, awful as that way. It was the idea that he could be an exception, that standards are relaxed a bit for long-time believers. It’s the idea that the life-time church member, the pillar of the community, or one of the founders of the congregation can expect a little slack. After all, didn’t David have a little reserve to work with? Didn’t he have the believer’s blue blood?
I am reminded of Jesus’ parable of the two sons in Matthew 21:28-31.
“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.”
The only credentials we have as Christians are those bestowed upon us by our gracious and merciful God through Christ. A son of God, even if he is a David, who talks a good case but doesn’t actually submit himself in repentance and faith must not fool himself that God settles for giving a consolation prize. In other words, one squanders the blessings of God through sin but can at least walk away with a consolation prize.
That’s not how it is. The forgiveness David eventually received was not a booby prize.
God gives unmerited grace and pardon to adulterers, prostitutes, tax collectors, liars, and even murderers. David murdered Uriah. But God does not grant forgiveness because someone believes himself entitled. David apparently believed himself entitled to different boundaries and entitlements.
It was actually Uriah who was entitled. He was entitled to go home and spend time with Bathsheba because she was his wife. Because he was a loyal soldier, Uriah was entitled to the esteem of his sovereign. Because he was a dependable officer he was entitled to lead his men fair and square into battle without having his troops withdrawn leaving him defenseless.
Though Uriah comes away from this episode without his life, he enters the annals of this era of Israel ahead of David, not because he was entitled but because he was constrained by faith. I’d like to believe it was saving faith in the promises of Israel’s God rather than simply faith in military principle. But who cannot admire Uriah for an example of honor ahead of entitlement?
The lesson for us today who are so overwhelmingly endowed with the blessings of God in Christ is that we must never forget we share the very same need and anonymity of the lowliest sinner. David forgot that. And when God calls us to honorable, holy living and righteous service, it is the deepest privilege … absolutely never a time to think ourselves a little bit better than a guy like Uriah down the ranks or a little freer to stretch on scruples because of being an “old-hand” Christian.
When we are caught in sin or preceded by repentant harlots and thieves entering the kingdom, it is absolutely never a time to say …
Rats. Shouldn’t I at least get some comps?
