This week we are looking at an event from history that is
recorded for us in a section of a letter in the Old Testament of the Bible called
the book of 2 Samuel. Yesterday, we looked on as King David, the man after
God’s own heart, the man who was their greatest military leader, instead of
doing what he was responsible for doing and was supposed to be doing, which was
to lead the Jewish people into military battle, decided to remain in Jerusalem.
Instead of going out with the community of men whom he was most accountable to
and responsible for, King David decided to isolate himself from those who were
in a position to hold him accountable.
King David allowed the mighty men, his closest advisors
to go to battle, while he remained behind, which isolated himself from those
who both knew him best and who had access to tell him not only what he wanted to
hear but what he needed to hear. However,
we can find ourselves doing the exact same thing, as in our culture, and with
men especially, there is a tendency to drift toward
isolation, independence and autonomy.
We are
tempted to drift towards isolation, independence and autonomy because our
culture values the concepts of independence and autonomy. We often tempted to
drift towards isolation, independence and autonomy because we may find
ourselves in a place where we are angry or discontent with our current
circumstances. And we are often tempted to drift towards isolation,
independence and autonomy and away from genuine and close community because we
assume that people want something from us. And because we assume that people
will want something from us if we are part of close community, we will not seek
out that close community.
And
just as it is for us today, King David found himself in a place where he had
drifted into isolation and away from community and accountability, so that he
could do what he wanted to do instead of what he was supposed to do. Today, we
see what King David’s decision to isolate himself led to in 2 Samuel 11:2:
Now when
evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the
king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very
beautiful in appearance. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one
said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the
Hittite?" David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he
lay with her; and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she
returned to her house.
King David, isolated from others and now having the
autonomy to do what he wanted to do, decided that what he wanted to do was have
a little fun with someone else’s wife, who was doing what King David was
supposed to be doing. So, in order to do what he wanted to do, King David sent
his messengers to get Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, for a late
night rendezvous.
Now when the messengers question the King about his
choice in women, it is important to understand that Uriah the Hittite was one
of the mighty men. In other words, Uriah was one of the thirty men that were in
King David’s inner circle. These men protected the King without question and
had repeatedly demonstrated their devotion and trustworthiness to him.
Uriah was one of the men who truly knew King David and
had access to King David. After all, they had been in close community for years
as they battled together against the enemies of the Jewish people. In addition,
Bathsheba’s father, Eliam, was one of King David’s closest advisors. This was a
man who also was close to the King and was in a position to hold the king
accountable.
So when the messengers are told to get Bathsheba, they
basically said “so you are going to sleep with Uriah’s wife”? But notice that
these messengers did not refuse the king. Notice that these messengers did not
challenge the king or try to hold the king accountable. After all, King David
was the king and they were just the messengers. King David was the one who
wrote out their paycheck.
King David had drifted away from the accountability of
close community and was now surrounded by yes men who would only tell the king
what he wanted to hear, not what he needed to hear. Instead of remaining in
close community that provided loving accountability, King David’s independence,
isolation and autonomy drove him to commit adultery. And, as we will see, this
was not a onetime encounter. Notice what happens next in verse 5:
The woman
conceived; and she sent and told David, and
said, "I am pregnant."
Notice that Bathsheba has no
doubt who the father of the child is. This was an ongoing affair and this was
not a secret affair. I mean, do you think that these messengers would have kept
quiet after repeatedly bringing Bathsheba over? But now, with Bathsheba
pregnant and with the potential for his adulterous affair to become even more
well known, King David had to try to figure out how to get out of this horrible
and embarrassing situation. We see King David’s plan, in verse 6:
Then David
sent to Joab, saying,
"Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah
came to him, David asked concerning the welfare of Joab and the people and the
state of the war. Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house, and
wash your feet." And Uriah went out of the king's house, and a present from
the king was sent out after him.
You see, King David attempted to do what we often try to
do when we get into trouble as a result of a poor decision. What King David
attempted to do; what we try to do, is to control the outcome. We see how King
David’s attempts to control the outcome worked out in verse 9:
But Uriah
slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and
did not go down to his house. Now when they told David, saying, "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 are staying in temporary shelters,
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? By
your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing." Then David
said to Uriah, "Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you
go." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. Now David
called him, and he ate and drank before him, and he made him drunk; and in the
evening he went out to lie on his bed with his lord's servants, but he did not
go down to his house.
Well that did not work out how
King David planned it. Uriah was a man that seemed to possess more of a heart
for God than King David did at this point. Instead of spending the night with
his wife, Uriah spent the night with the people who were responsible for
protecting the king. Because, that is what those who are in close community do
for one another.
However, King David has
isolated himself from that close community and is now trying to fix the mess
that he has made as a result of the poor decisions that flowed from being
independent and autonomous outside of community. Now, imagine yourself as King
David. You grand plan has not worked. How are you going to fix this mess that
you have made? We see the king’s final solution recorded for us in verse 14:
Now in the
morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. He had written in the letter, saying,
"Place Uriah in the front line of the fiercest battle and withdraw from
him, so that he may be struck down and die." So it was as Joab kept watch
on the city, that he put Uriah at the place where he knew there were valiant men. The men of the city
went out and fought against Joab, and some of the people among David's servants
fell; and Uriah the Hittite also died.
Just when you think that it
cannot get any worse, it does just a few verses later in verse 26:
Now when the
wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her
husband. When the time of mourning
was over, David sent and brought her to his house and she became his wife; then
she bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of
the LORD.
You think? And while King David
thought his plan to cover up his selfishness and rebellion that led to a
murderous affair was a success; while King David thought he was off the hook,
the reality was quite different.
Friday, we will see the
consequences of King David's isolation...
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