Photo Credit: Keyway
David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. – 1 Kings 15:5
The story of “David and Goliath” crosses cultures and religions. The small shepherd boy who brought down a giant warrior with just a slingshot and a single stone. From the time he was a boy through all his years as King of Israel, David would fight in the strength and for the glory of God. From all we read in the Psalms as well as what history tells us of him, David truly loved God. Even the LORD Himself declared David “a man after God’s own heart“.
However, we also see that David knew great sin and brokenness in his life as well. His betrayal of Uriah the Hittite was probably the darkest period of his life and a crossroads of historic proportions.
It begins here. “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.” (2 Samuel 11:1)
King David should have been away in battle, shoulder to shoulder with his great army, which included the “mighty men” loyal to him from the rough early years of his preparation for the throne. Instead, for whatever reasons, he was at ease in his palace.
[This whole account of what follows is found in full in 2 Samuel 11.]
Standing on his rooftop, King David allowed his eyes to rest on a scene he would later regret. A woman bathing. Bathsheba, her name. The wife of his warrior, Uriah.
Unbridled lust and adultery would follow, even as one of his attendants called his attention to the fact that she belonged to Uriah the Hittite. “Uriah the Hittite, O King!” This man had been with David, fighting for him, from their days of hiding in caves, enemies of King Saul, whose place David would one day take. This man Uriah was one of David’s “mighty men“.
Not even recognition of his loyal warrior would stop David from the evil in his heart.
Then…weeks later, Bathsheba sent the news that would betray David’s great sin against Uriah. She was pregnant. What would follow was a great scheme to get Uriah home from battle and in his wife’s bed, to cover David’s sin. Uriah did come, as beckoned, but would not enjoy company with his wife out of loyalty to those still in battle.
Finally, David would do a further unthinkable act. He had Uriah placed in the line of battle where his death would be assured. After he was killed and Bathsheba’s acceptable mourning period passed, King David married her…and they would NOT live happily ever after.
Faithful Uriah. Courageous Uriah. Man of integrity, Uriah. Sacrificed by the one he followed into battle for years. Essentially murdered by the one for whom he would die…and did die.
Psalm 51 records David’s great sorrow at his sin and subsequent separation from God. He longed to be restored to a right relationship with the Lord and he knew and owned the great wrong he had done both to Uriah and to God Himself.
I am so thankful for the long-suffering forgiveness and steadfast love of God. We should never, however, think that without confession and repentance we can presume on God’s kindness toward us…
We must remember Uriah also…and mourn, with David, those who suffer when we choose our own way and we forget God.
Dr. Rick Taylor writes poignantly and hopefully about Uriah the Hittite. In his article David’s Mighty Men: Uriah, the Overlooked Warrior:
Uriah may be overlooked and forgotten by mankind. He has never been a big name in the Bible. He is almost never looked at as a hero or man of valor. But God made it clear that his warrior integrity will be memorialized. Even in the face of every major temptation to the contrary put forth by David, in God’s estimation, Uriah was a determined man of nobility, character, integrity, purity of heart and unwavering principle…God sees and remembers – for eternity. – Rick Taylor
A Tale of Three Kings – a Study in Brokenness by Gene Edwards – one of my absolute favorite books
Movement Church – Pastor Cliff Jordan – Podcast on Psalm 51 – September 4, 2016
King David – a Man After God’s Own Heart – Jack Zavada
David’s Mighty Men – Stewardship in Action – Hugh Whelchel
David’s Mighty Men (and the stories behind them) [Infographic] – Jeffrey Kranz