I would, if you would, open your
Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 11. I'd like to speak to you for
a few moments this morning on Uriah, a type of the Lord Jesus
Christ. This week in Ashland, we had
a funeral service for a man by the name of Charlie Moore. I'm
sure none of you ever heard of Charlie before. I think you're
probably familiar with his children, his daughters, Lee Ann Walmsley
and Lynn Nyberg, and his son, Chuck Moore. Chuck gave the eulogy
for his dad, did an outstanding job. And after hearing the eulogy,
my wife, Janet, she said, I never met the man, but I love him. And that's what I want for you
this morning. For those of you who already know the Lord Jesus
Christ, I want you to hear this picture of the Savior and leave
here loving him even more, trusting him even more. And for those
who do not know him, I want you to hear this picture of the Lord
and say, I've never met him before, but I love him. I want you to
fall in love with the Lord Jesus Christ. So let's look at this
chapter, 2 Samuel 11, beginning in verse one. It came to pass
after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth
to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and
all Israel, and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged
Raba. But David perished still at Jerusalem.
Now, more than likely, this was springtime, when they should
have an extended period of good weather so the army can fight. They should have a period of
good weather. David should have been with his
army. He's the commander-in-chief, but he did not go with his army.
He stayed home. At this time in David's reign,
everything's going his way, and he didn't feel the need to be
out on the battlefield with his army. Normally, we human beings
are at the greatest risk to fall into temptation when we're on
the mountaintop. Everything's going our way. Because
then we tend to forget that we need the grace of God to hold
us up. David didn't fall into this temptation when he was hiding
in caves from Saul. He fell into this temptation
when he was on the mountaintop. When we're in the valley of trouble
and trial, we clearly see the need of God's grace and mercy
to hold us up, but we tend to forget that if we become rich
and increased with goods. Look at Revelations chapter 3. Revelation 3 verse 15. I know thy works, that thou art
neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot,
one or the other. So then, because thou art lukewarm,
and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because
thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of
nothing. And knowest not that thou art
wretched and miserable, poor and blind and naked. When we're
wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, we understand
clearly we need the grace of God to hold us up. But we tend
to forget that when we're rich and increased with goods. And
that's the trap that David has fallen into. And he didn't go
with his army like he should have done. The time of danger
for David seemed to have passed. And he took off his armor. And
that's when the arrow of sin found its mark and struck him.
If we're not doing what we're supposed to do, we'll end up
doing what we're not supposed to do. And that's what happened
to David. Look here, verse two. And it came to pass in an evening
time that David arose from off his bed and walked upon the roof
of the king's house. And from the roof, he saw a woman
washing herself. And the woman was very beautiful
to look upon. And David sent and inquired after the woman.
And one said, it's not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife
of Uriah the Hittite. And David sent messengers and
took her, and she came in unto him, and he lay with her. For
she is purified from her uncleanness. And she returned unto her house,
and the woman conceived, and sent, and told David, and said,
I am with child." Now, this must have been one of the darkest
hours of David's reign. He just committed adultery. He
betrayed a sacred trust between a husband and a wife. He violated
that relationship that's reserved exclusively for a husband and
a wife. And in one fell swoop, David
broke two of the commandments. He coveted his neighbor's wife
and then committed adultery with her. And he caused Bathsheba
to do the same. He exposed both of them to sin
and to death. The punishment for adultery is
death. And David not only exposed himself
to that, he exposed Bathsheba to that. Quite a guy, isn't he? Exposed them both to death. And
it only gets worse when he tries to cover his sin. Look at verse
six. And David sent to Joab saying, send me Uriah the Hittite. And
Joab sent Uriah to David. And when Uriah was coming to
him, David demanded of him how Joab did and how the people did
and how the war prospered. And David said to Uriah, go down
to thy house and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the
king's house. And there followed him a mess of meat from the king.
David sent a fancy dinner over, so he and his wife, Uriah and
his wife, could have a big meal, a fancy meal. But Uriah slept
at the door of the king's house, with all the servants of his
lord, and went not down to his house. And when they had told
David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said
unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? Why then didst thou
not go down unto thine house? And Uriah said unto David, The
ark. And Israel and Judah abide in
tents, and my Lord Joab and the servants of my Lord are encamped
in the open fields. Shall I then go into my house
to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As thou livest
and as I so live it, I will not do this one." Now, David naturally
thought, if Uriah spent the night at home, that when the baby is
born, everyone would just assume that Uriah is the father. Uriah is so faithful. He's faithful
to David. He's faithful to Joab. He's faithful
to the army in which he serves. He will not allow himself to
enjoy any comforts of home while his comrades in arms are out
there camping in the field under fire from the enemy. And I'm
pretty sure this frustrated David to no end. It just frustrated
him. And I don't think he was ever
embarrassed, at least at this point, between the contrast between
Uriah and himself. He didn't, this didn't seem to
dawn on him at this time, because look what he does in verse 12.
And David said to Uriah, carry here today also, and tomorrow
I'll let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that
day and tomorrow. And when David had called him,
he did eat and drink before him and he made him drunk. And even
he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his Lords,
but went not down to his house. David got Uriah drunk, hoping
to loosen his moral compass so he would go home to Bathsheba.
Even that wouldn't work on a man of Uriah's integrity and faithfulness. And rather than give up, David
just, he's going to make it worse. Somebody should have told David,
the first rule when you find yourself at the bottom of a hole
is quit digging. David's just going to keep digging,
trying to cover up this sin. Look at verse 14. It came to
pass in the morning that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent
it by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter, saying,
Set ye Uriah at the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire
ye from him, that he may be smitten and die. Now how cold has David
become that he makes a man unknowingly carry his own death sins? to
battle. And David's instructions are
so cruel, he's putting a willing, valiant soldier in the hottest
part of the battle and then telling the other soldiers to withdraw
from him, that he might be killed. David's going so far, he keeps
trying to cover one sin with another sin. Now he's trying
to cover adultery with murder. First, he involved Bathsheba
in the sin. Now he's involving Joab in his
sin, in this murder plot. Look at verse 16. It came to
pass when Joab observed the city that he assigned Uriah unto the
place where he knew that valiant men were. And the men of the
city went out and fought with Joab. And there fell some of
the people, the servants of David. And Uriah the Hittite died also.
Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the
war, and charged the messenger saying, When thou hast made an
end of telling the matters of the war unto the king, if so
be that the king's wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore
approachest ye so nigh unto the city, when ye did fight? Know
ye not that they would shoot from the wall? Whose motive Bimelech,
the son of Jerubbosheth, did not a woman cast a piece of millstone
upon him from the wall that he died in Thebes? Why went ye nigh
the wall? Then say thou, thy servant Uriah
the Hittite is dead also. This action that David and Joab
took is such a military blunder, they had to cover that up too.
This messenger had to be like a lot of privates in the military.
They see what's going on, they see that generals don't know
what's going on, and it's costing many men their lives. Everyone
knew. Don't get within range of the
city walls when you're besieging it. History has shown Israel,
don't get too close to that wall when you're besieging it. In
Judges 9, a Benelit got too close to the city wall that they had
surrounded, and a woman threw a piece of millstone off that
wall and killed him. Everybody knew, don't get close
to that wall. And Joab told the messenger,
now if the king gets angry about this, you just tell him your
eye of the Hittite's dead. And he insinuated the soldier.
He understood what Joab was telling him. You tell David your eye
is dead. Everything will be OK. And that's
exactly what the messenger did. Verse 22. So the messenger went
and came and showed David all that Joab sent him for. And the
messenger said unto David, surely the men prevailed against us
and came out against us into the field. And we were upon them
even under the entering of the gate. And the shooters shot from
off the wall upon thy servants, and some of the king's servants
be dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. Then
David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab,
Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth
one as well as another. Make thy battle more strong against
the city, and overthrow it, and encourage thou him. And when
the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she
mourned for her And when the morning was passed, David sent
Fester to his house and she became his wife and buried her son. Everything's covered. Everything's
all right. David got away with it, didn't
he? But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.
Now, this is a dark, sad story, but the gospel is always preached
best against the black backdrop of sin. The redemptive glory
of Christ can be seen best against the black backdrop of my sin,
of my sin nature. The glory of God's eternal love
for his people is best seen against the black backdrop of our sin
and our rebellion against him. It's our sin and rebellion against
him contrasted by his love for his people. Now, normally we
study scripture. David is a type of Christ. But
in our text here, Uriah is the type of Christ and David is the
type of us sinners. And David's really not a type
at all. David is, you and me. He is. We're all equally guilty
as David is. Now, we may not have acted upon
what's in our heart and been unfaithful to our spouse, or
we may not have acted upon our house and actually taken someone's
life. But what did our Lord say? Whosoever looketh on a woman,
to lust after her in his heart, hath committed adultery with
her already. Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause
is guilty of murder. We're all equally guilty as David,
and we deserve to be put to death just like David did in our text.
And this story is given to us, first of all, for this reason,
to remind us that the best of men are still just sinful men. The best we can ever hope for
in this life is to be a sinner saved by grace. That's the best
we'll ever be. Even believers, the patriarchs,
the man after God's own heart, needs God's grace. Then I do
too. I need God's grace or I'll fall
a whole lot faster than David did because we can't keep ourselves.
We're too full of sin. Secondly, this story is given
as a comfort to God's people. Scripture does not cover the
sins and the faults of believers. And that's a comfort to us today.
When we sin, we find comfort in the fact God saves sinners. God doesn't save good people.
God saves sinners. There are people in glory right
now who lived on this earth with the same weaknesses and the same
sin that I live with. And that's a comfort to me. And
I know why those people are in glory today, because their sin
has been covered. Their sin has been put away.
Now, there's only one covering for sin, and it's not more sin. It's not more of anything that
we do, because everything we do is sin. Everything we do just
keeps sin upon sin upon sin. Everything we do is sin. You
can't put your sin away. You can't cover your sin. You
can't make it less heinous by having good church attendance,
or church membership, or tithing, or anything like that. You can't
lessen the severity of your sin by straightening up and doing
better. If you're doing any of those things in order to put
away your sin, that's self-righteousness. And God will never accept it.
There's only one righteousness that He'll accept. And it's not
our filthy rags of righteousness, I can tell you that. Well then,
what will wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Sin can only be covered. It can
only be put away. The stain of sin can only be
cleansed through the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what Uriah is a picture
of here in our text. Now, I don't know a lot about
Uriah, but I know this. He was not a Jew. He was a Hittite. He was born an alien from the
Commonwealth of Israel. But he must have converted to
Judaism, become a proselyte, and he married a Jewish woman.
And according to the historians that I read, their love was famous
in Israel. And he became a captain in David's
army. He was a fierce and valiant warrior. And the first way Uriah is a
type of Christ is he was faithful. Just a casual reading of this
chapter tells you Uriah was a faithful man. He was so faithful, he would
not go home and visit his wife while the battle raged. He slept
on the ground outside of David's door. That's what a faithful
dog does. Lies at his master's feet. No
matter what else is going on, he lies at his master's feet.
Uriah would not comfort himself while his commander and those
men that he commanded were camping out in the open field with the
Ark of the Covenant. He wouldn't do it. And that's
a picture of our Savior. Look over Hebrews chapter 2.
The captain of our salvation is faithful. He is faithful that promised. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 16. For verily he took not on him
the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Wherefore in all things it behooves him to be made like unto his
brethren. that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For
in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to
succor them that are tempted. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers
of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of
our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful. He was faithful
to him that appointed him as also Moses was faithful in all
of his house. Our Lord Jesus was faithful. He was faithful to fulfill every
requirement of the law in order to satisfy God's holiness, in
order to satisfy his Father's justice. He never allowed himself
to be turned to the right or the left, ever. He was always
doing his Father's will, even when it meant his suffering and
his death. He set his face like a flint
toward Jerusalem. Why? He was on a mission. He was faithful to go there and
accomplish the mission that his father sent him to do. He was
faithful to accomplish the salvation of his people. And during our
Lord's earthly ministry, never one time did he work a miracle
for his own comfort. He wouldn't comfort himself while
the battle raged. When he was thirsty, he didn't
create water. The one who created the oceans,
when he was thirsty, did not create water to drink. He asked
a sinful Samaritan woman to give him a drink. When our Lord was
hungry, he didn't turn stones into bread. He either went without
or he sent his disciples to go buy it. He didn't work a miracle
to comfort himself because you can't. He was being the representative
of his people. And when he was in agony on the
cross, he was faithful. He refused to work a miracle
to come down from the cross, even though his adversaries were
saying, well, he saved others. Himself he cannot save. Let him
now come down from the cross and we'll believe him. He wouldn't
work a miracle to vindicate himself. And he wouldn't work a miracle
to comfort himself. He was faithful, even unto death. And how thankful we should be. We're saved through faith in
him. But you know, we're also saved by his faithfulness. I'll show you that. Look over
in Galatians, chapter two, where's they by his faithfulness? Galatians 2, verse 16. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law. but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ, that we may be justified by the faith of Christ, and not
by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. Now we're saved by faith in Christ,
certainly. But our righteousness is His
faithful obedience. He is our righteousness, and
we're saved by His works, by His faithfulness. Look at verse
20 here in the same chapter, Galatians 3. I am crucified with
Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. In the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loves
me and gave himself for me. Look over at chapter 3, verse
21. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid. For if there had been a law given,
which could have given life, verily righteousness should have
been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin,
that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to
them that believe. We're saved by faith in him,
but we're saved by his faith, by his faithfulness. Our Savior
was faithful. The second way Uriah is a type
of Christ is in how he was tempted. David tempted Uriah, didn't he?
He got Uriah drunk, hoping he could weaken his integrity and
his moral compass and make him go cover David's sin. Well, that's
a picture of our Savior. He was tempted. We just read
that in all points like as we are, yet without sin. Satan tempted
him and tried to weaken our Lord through hunger. Our Redeemer
never stumbled. He was tempted by men. They tried
to trap him and trick him. He never slipped up, never, one
time. And I'm thankful our representative
never stumbled. When he was faithful, when he
was tempted like as we are, yet without sin, brethren, that's
our righteousness. He was tempted yet without sin. The third way Uriah is a type
of Christ is how he carried his own death sentence into battle.
You know, if Uriah, as he was walking back to the Bible, had
that letter in his hand, He got curious and just opened it up
to read it. He'd have known what was going on. He would have avoided
being killed, wouldn't he? But Uriah was too faithful. He
would not open that letter and he just carried it back to Joab
like a faithful servant. You know, our Lord could have
avoided going to the cross, couldn't he? He wasn't taken there against
his own will. He went there willingly. They
couldn't take him and make him go there. He went willingly.
He said, no man takes my life from me. I lay it down of myself. He gave himself willingly. He
is the one who carried out the death sins. Pilate didn't put
him to death. Those Roman soldiers didn't put
him to death. Those Jews didn't put him to death. His father
put him to death. He carried out the death sins.
Pilate wasn't in control of that whole charade. Our Lord was the
one who was in control. He carried out the death sentence
so that he could accomplish the salvation of his people. And
I'm so thankful that he did. His death is my death. His death
is my death to sin. His death is my death to the
law. His death is my death to God's
justice. If the Lord Jesus Christ did
not willingly die for his people, No one would ever escape God's
wrath. The law requires death for sin. If Christ does not die as my
substitute, then God's going to require that I die. The law
requires death for sin. And he carried out the death
sins against himself. The fourth way Uriah is a type
of Christ is how he was forsaken in battle. Now I'm making the
assumption that Uriah had been a faithful lieutenant to Joab,
yet Joab ordered his men to abandon this faithful warrior in a time
of battle. I assume Uriah had been a good
leader to the men that he was in charge of, yet those same
men abandoned him in battle. And it had to be sad to him,
it had to be shocking to him in his dying moments to realize
he was abandoned. That's a picture of our Lord.
No one died as alone as the Lord Jesus Christ died. He was abandoned,
completely alone in his dying agony. The disciples, who swore
they'd never leave him, I'll die with you, they said, ran
and hid, were nowhere to be found. God the Father, who's always
eternally been one with the Son, turned his back on his son, departed
from his son. I can't understand that. That's
just what scripture says. And his son died alone because
sin was found on him. He died utterly alone because
that's the eternal death his people deserve. And he died separated
from his father because that's what we deserve, to die eternally
separated from God in hell. And our substitute died alone
so that his people will never die alone and never be forsaken. And fifth, the fifth way Uriah
is a type of Christ is he died. He died. They carry that dead
body off the battlefield. He was dead. Our Lord, God himself,
the prince of life died. Now there's a mystery. God died? He died. He was faithful to fulfill
the law's last demand and he died so that his people will
never die eternally. In our story, what happened?
The innocent died and the guilty lived. The Lord Jesus Christ
died as the sinner's substitute. The innocent died so that the
guilty might live eternally. This is how God saves sinners. He died the just for the unjust
that he might bring us to God. He took the guilt of his people
in his own body on the tree and gave his people his perfect righteousness
that we may live in him. Now, David thought he got away
with it, didn't he? Till Nathan come to him, he thought
he got away with it. But the thing that David had
done displeased the Lord. God saw, God sees every sin. And I'm thankful that he does.
All my sin was cast on the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm glad God sees
every sin. John, he didn't forget one. He
saw them all and he put them all on his son and he put him
to death that I might live. that the guilty might live. Oh,
I'm thankful. Now, there's one notable difference
between Uriah and our Lord. When Uriah died, he left a mourning
widow. When our Lord died, he didn't
lose a wife. He has no widows. In his death,
our Lord Jesus Christ redeemed his bride from the curse of the
law. He purchased her to himself.
And you can bank on this. He's going to have her. He'll
have her eternally. Now, I first prepared this lesson
to preach at home. Jan and I were taking a walk
around our neighborhood. I tell people I preach to her
in her kitchen all the time. But I've been looking at my study. We were taking a walk. I was
telling her about this, what I had in store. And she had this
question. She said, I always wondered this.
We can assume that Uriah is one of the Lord's own. He died there
on the battlefield and went to be with the Lord. A number of
years later, David died. He went to be with the Lord.
There they are, in glory, together. What do you think they talk about?
I don't have the foggiest idea. I don't have the foggiest idea.
But here's what I know. A wise man told me once, let's
stick to what we know. This is what I know. is enthroned in glory. There
sits the Lord Jesus Christ enthroned in glory, surrounded by people
whose sins nailed him to Calvary's tree. He's surrounded by people
whose sins cost him his very life, and he receives each one
of them joyfully. That's the love, the unspeakable
love of the Redeemer. Somehow, I suspect, They owe
your eye, receive data the same way. A type of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the Savior. Look to Heaven. Look to Heaven. Alright, Lord
bless you.