2 Samuel chapter 11, verse 1,
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 Rabba. But David tarries still at Jerusalem."
Now, probably this was springtime when they knew they would have
an extended period of good weather so the army could be out fighting.
And David should have been with the army. He's the commander
in chief. That's where he belongs. If he's
going to send the army out, he should be with him. But he stayed
at home. Everything was going David's
way. He defeated all of his enemies.
The Lord had given him everything. And he just didn't feel the need
to go out with the army, even though that's where he belonged.
And you know what we're not doing? What we're supposed to do. You
know what we'll end up doing? What we're not supposed to do.
You know this story well, that's what's going to happen to David.
And we normally are at the greatest risk for falling into sin and
temptation when we're on the mountaintop. Because when we're
on the mountaintop, we tend to forget, a human being just tends
to forget that we need God's grace to hold us up as much as
when we're on the mountaintop as when we're in the valley.
David didn't make this mistake when he was hiding from Saul
in the caves and rocks and dens. He did it when he was on the
mountaintop. Now, when we're in the valley of trouble and
trial, we clearly see our need of God's grace to hold us up. We know we can't hold ourselves
up, but when we're on the mountaintop, it becomes different. Look at
Revelation chapter 3. Even for believers, it tends
to be different because we're still human beings. In Revelation 3, verse 15, this is the letter to the church
at Laodicea, and God says, I know thy works, that thou art neither
cold nor hot. I would that thou wert cold or
hot. 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, and
poor, and blind, and naked." When we're in the valley, we
have no trouble recognizing we're wretched, and miserable, and
poor, and blind, and naked. But not when we're on the mountaintop,
and rich, and increased with goods. And that's what's happened
to David. For David, the time of danger
seemed to have passed. So he took off his armor. He
let his guard down. That's when the arrow of sin
could hit him and find him, find his mark. It's just never good
for a human being to have too much time on their hands. Remember
when we were talking about being laid up after serving, when you're
laid up, you have too much time on your hands. You have too much
time for your mind to go places it ought not go. It's never good
for a human being to have too much time on their hands, because
I'll tell you what we'll find is sin. That's what we'll find
every time. That's what David found. Look
at verse 2. And it came to pass in an evening
tide 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, Is 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 is one of the darkest hours of David's
life, one of the darkest hours of his reign. Look over Proverbs
chapter 6. David, the man after God's own
heart, had just committed adultery. gives us some very good insight
into this sin of adultery. In verse 30 of Proverbs chapter
6, men do not despise a thief if he is still to satisfy his
soul when he is hungry. But if he be found, he shall
restore sevenfold. He shall give all the substance
of his house. And if he does that, all will be forgiven and
forgotten. But Solomon says, verse 32, who
so committeth adultery with the woman, lacketh understanding.
He that doeth it destroys his own soul. A wound and dishonor
shall he get, and his reproach shall not be wiped away. For
jealousy is the rage of a man. Therefore he will not spare the
day of vengeance. He will not regard any ransom. Neither will he rest content,
though thou givest him many gifts." You can give him all the substance
of your house. You can restore as many things as you want to
to him. He'll never forgive you. He'll never be wiped away because
you've betrayed a sacred trust. relationship that's sacred, that's
reserved between a husband and wife, and that's been violated.
And already, David's broke two of the Ten Commandments, hadn't
he? He committed adultery, and he
coveted his neighbor's wife, and he caused Bathsheba to do
the same thing. He exposed both of them to death.
The punishment for adultery with a married person is death. And
he exposed her to death. David's quite a guy, isn't he?
What a leader. Here he is, exposing this woman
to being put to death. And it only gets worse when he
tries to cover his sin. Look at verse 6. And David said
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's sending him this big romantic dinner, you know, to
go with him. 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
my 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 thy soul
liveth, I will not do this thing. Now David thought, if Uriah went
home and spent the night with his wife, that when the baby
is born, naturally everybody will assume Uriah is the father.
But Uriah is so faithful to David. He's so faithful to Uriah. He's
so faithful to that military that he's a member of. He will
not allow himself to enjoy any comforts of home as long as his
comrades in arms are out in the open field under fire. He just
won't do it. And I'm sure this frustrated
David to no end. He just couldn't believe it.
And I think he's so frustrated by this situation, Uriah didn't
do what he wanted him to do, that he was not embarrassed to
see the contrast between Uriah and himself. And I really don't
think he saw the contrast, because look at verse 12. David said
to Uriah, well, Terry here today also, and tomorrow I will let
thee depart. So Uriah bode in Jerusalem that
day and the morrow. 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 Lord,
but went not down to his house. David tried to get Uriah drunk,
so he loosened up his moral compass and he'd go home to his wife
and David's sin would be covered. Even that didn't work with the
man of Uriah's faithfulness and integrity. And rather than give
up, I mean, at some point you'd think David would just give up,
but he keeps making the situation worse. Somebody should have told
David, the first rule, when you find yourself at the bottom of
a hole, stop digging. David, just stop digging. You're just
making it worse, but he doesn't see that. Look what he does in
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 in the forefront of the hottest battle. and retiring
from him, that he may be smitten and die." How cold has David's heart become
that he makes a man unknowingly carry his death sentence to battle? How cold has his heart become?
These instructions are so cruel, just cruel, to put a willing,
valiant soldier in the hottest part of the battle and then withdraw
from him? My goodness! It's just so cold. David's gone so far. His heart
is so cold. He's trying to cover one sin
with another sin. He's trying to cover adultery
with murder. And he's not covering it. He's
just heaping problems up upon himself. And David, not only
had he involved Bathsheba in his sin, Now he's involving Joab
in his sin, in this murder plot, but Joab goes along with it.
Look at verse 16. It came to pass when Joab observed
the city that he assigned Uriah unto the place where he knew
that the valiant men were. And when the men of the city
went out and fought with Joab, and there fell some of the people,
the servants of David, not only Uriah died here, other soldiers
did. 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 it be so that the king's wrath arise,
and he say unto thee, Wherefore approachest thou so nigh unto
the city, when thou didst fight? knewst thou not that they would
shoot from the wall? And who smote Abimelech the son of Jeroboam? Did not a woman cast a piece
of millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebes?
Why went thou not to the wall? Then saith thou, Thy servant
Uriah the Hittite, is dead also. Now this action that David and
Joab took was such a military blunder, they had to cover it
up too. I mean, David just has to keep
covering up everything he does. Everybody knew. Don't get within
range of the archers on top of the city wall when you're besieging
the city. Everybody knew that. And history has showed Israel,
now don't get too close to the city wall when you're besieging
it. You can read about this in Judges 9. King Abimelech, he
got too close to the city wall. When they had it under siege,
a woman threw a piece of millstone off, hit him in the head, and
killed him. Everybody knew, don't get too close to that wall. And
Joab told the messenger, now if the king gets angry because
of this military blunder that we've made, you just tell him,
your eye is dead. And he's insinuating, when you
tell him that, everything will be okay. And that's exactly what
he did. So the messenger went and came
and showed David all that Joab had sent him for. And the messenger
said unto David, Surely the men prevailed against us, and came
out unto us into the field. And we were upon them even unto
the entering in of the gate. And they came out to us, and
we drove them back into the city. 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. And 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 husband. And when the morning was past,
David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his
wife, and barium his son." But the thing that David had done
displeased the Lord." Close call, wasn't it? Close call. But now
everything's covered up. Nobody will be the wiser. There
may be some whispers. People may whisper a little bit
about that baby born kind of early. It hasn't been nine months,
but nobody will dare say anything out loud. They'll just let it
go. Now, that's a dark, sad story.
I mean, that's so sad. is always best preached against
the backdrop, the black backdrop of man's sin. The redemptive
glory of Christ is always best seen against the black backdrop
of not just sin, but my sin, my nature. The glory, the astounding
unbelievableness of God's eternal love for his people can only
be seen against the black backdrop of our sin and rebellion against
him. Well, we've got a black backdrop,
don't we? Well, then we ought to be able to preach the gospel
from it. Now, normally in Scripture, David is a type of Christ. But
in our text, Uriah is the type of Christ and David is a type
of us, sinners. And really, David's not a type
at all, is he? He is us. David is us. Everyone in this room is just
as guilty as David of all these sins. Now, you may never have
acted upon what's in your heart and been unfaithful to your spouse.
You may never have acted upon what's in your heart and taken
someone else's life. But we're still equally guilty,
aren't we? Every one of us. Our Lord said, Who so looketh
upon a woman to lust after her in his heart? has committed adultery
with her already. We're guilty. Whosoever is angry
with his brother, our Lord said, without a cause, he's guilty
of murder. We're guilty. Just drive down
the road a few minutes. You get a thing of road rage
come up, you're guilty. At least I do. We're all just
as guilty as David. And when David deserves to die,
we do too. We deserve eternal death. And
this story is given to us, first of all, to remind us that the
best of men, don't put your trust in the princes of men now, because
the best of men are still sinful men. That's all they are. The
best we can ever hope for in this life is to be a sinner saved
by grace. We're never going to get rid
of our sin nature. Now even believers now, the man after God's own
heart, needs God's grace to keep us from falling because we cannot
keep ourselves. I mean, the best of men cannot
keep themselves because by nature we're just full of sin. And secondly,
this story is given to comfort God's people. Now, Scripture
does not cover the faults and the sins of the heroes of Scripture. And that's a comfort to us today
because when we sin, We find comfort in the fact God saved
sinners. There are people in glory right
now, men and women in glory right now, who lived with the same
sin and the same weaknesses that I live with today. That gives
me some hope. God saved sinners. And I know
why those men and women are in glory today. Because their sin
has been covered. Their sin has been put away.
We'll deal with that next week. But there's only one covering
for sin. And it's not more sin. Can that
be obvious? It's not more sin. Sin can only
be put away through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sin
can't be put away through anything we do, because everything we
do is sin. You can't put away sin with your
tithing or your church membership or your church attendance or
by straightening up and doing better, because you can't do
better. Everything we do is sin. What can wash away my sin? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. And that's what Uriah is a picture
of here. Now, we don't know a whole lot about Uriah, but we know
this. Uriah was not a Jew. He was a
Hittite. But he must have converted and
become a Jewish proselyte, and he married a Jewish woman named
Bathsheba. And the historians tell us their
love was famous in Israel. It was such a compassionate,
tender love, one for another. It was famous in Israel. And
David, or Uriah, was some sort of a leader or captain or something,
you know, in David's army. He was a fierce, a valiant warrior.
And we know this about Uriah. He is faithful. He's a faithful
man. And this is the first way Uriah,
the type of our Lord, he's faithful. Uriah was so faithful He did
not go visit his wife when he was in town on furlough while
the battle raged. He slept on the ground outside
of David's door rather than go home to his wife. Isn't that
what a faithful dog does? Just lays at his master's door
waiting for his master. Uriah would not comfort himself
while his Joab, his commander, and his men were out camping
in the open field with the Ark of the Covenant. He wouldn't
do it. Look over Hebrews, chapter 2. The captain of our salvation
is faithful. 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 behooved him to be made like unto his
that he might be a merciful and a faithful high priest. He's
faithful in things pertaining to God. He's faithful to make
reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself
hath suffered being tempted, he is able to suffer, to comfort
them that are tempted. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers
of the heavenly calling, consider him, consider the apostle and
high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful
to him that appointed as also Moses was faithful in all of
his house. Our Lord Jesus was faithful to
fulfill every requirement of God's law in every jot and tittle. He was faithful to satisfy it
in order to satisfy God's holiness, in order to satisfy his Father's
justice. Our Lord never allowed himself
to be turned to the right or the left. He always went straight
ahead. He always, he was so faithful
to do his father's will and he did it, even when it meant his
suffering and his death. He set his face like a flint
towards Jerusalem and he was faithful to go because he was
going on a mission to put away the sins of his people. Throughout
his earthly ministry, our Lord never worked a miracle for his
own personal comfort. He limited himself to the things
that he could do or would do for himself to the things you
and I can do for ourselves. He refused to comfort himself
until the battle was finished. When he is thirsty, the one who
spoke the seed into existence asks a sinful Samaritan woman
for a drink. When he is hungry, he didn't
turn stones into bread. He either went without or he
sent his disciples to go buy it. But he didn't create a miracle,
a great bread for himself. And when he was in agony on the
cross, he refused to work a miracle. To come down from that cross,
even though his adversaries were taunting him, saying he saved
others, himself he cannot save. Let him now come down from the
cross and we'll believe him. He would not vindicate himself. to those unbelievers and come
down from that cross because He is faithful to suffer everything
that the sins of His people deserve to suffer. He was faithful to
die the death His people deserve. And how thankful we should be.
Oh, how thankful we should be. We're saved through faith in
Him. Now that's true. But we are saved
by His faithfulness. I'll show you that. Look over
in Galatians chapter 2. We're saved by his faithfulness.
I'm so thankful. Our substitute was faithful.
In 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 might 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 undoubtedly, Paul, part of his meaning here
is that faith, we're saved by the faith in Christ, certainly.
But what does he say? We're saved by the faith of Christ. His faithfulness to be perfectly
obedient to his Father is our obedience. His faithfulness is
our faithfulness. We're saved by his works and
by his faithfulness. Look at verse 20 there in the
same chapter. I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. Look 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." His righteousness is our righteousness. His faithfulness to accomplish
that righteousness is our righteousness. He's faithful. The second way,
Uriah is a type of Christ and how he was tempted. David tried
everything he could do to get Uriah to go home to Bathsheba,
and he wouldn't do it. David even tried getting him
drunk, trying to loosen his moral compass. You know, he'd lose
his integrity and go home and cover David's sin for him. Our
Lord was tempted in much the same way, wasn't He? He was tempted
by Satan when the Lord was weakened by hunger, trying to turn those
stones into bread. Our Redeemer never stumbled.
He was tempted by men who would try to trap him and trick him,
you know, get him to slip up. He never did. And I'm so thankful. Our representative never stumbled. He was tempted in all points
like as we are, yet without sin. And there's the key. Yet without
sin. His righteousness is our righteousness. Even though he was tempted, he
never fell. Third, Uriah is a type of Christ. and how he carried his own death
sentence into battle. Here Uriah is. It was a pretty
good distance from Jerusalem to where the army was. I forget
how many miles it was. During that walk, you think Uriah
ever wondered, what's in this letter? If he'd opened it and
read it, he could have avoided the situation and lived, couldn't
he? But Uriah is too faithful to do that. He didn't do it.
Our Lord could have avoided going to the cross. He wasn't taken
there against his will. He went willingly. He said, no
man takes my life from me. I lay it down on myself. He went
willingly. And I'm so thankful he did. Because
his death is my death. His death to the law is my death
to the law. His death to God's justice is
my death to God's justice. God's justice will never demand
another thing from anyone for whom Christ died. His death is
our death. Our Lord Jesus Christ willingly
died for his people. And if he didn't, no one would
ever escape God's wrath. But he did to satisfy God's justice
for his people. He went willingly. Fourth, Uriah
is a type of Christ in how he was forsaken in battle. Now I'll
make this assumption. Uriah had been a faithful lieutenant.
From what I read of him, I don't think that's a stretch to assume
he was faithful in every walk of life. He was a faithful lieutenant
to Joab. Yet Joab ordered him to be abandoned
in battle. I assume Uriah had been a good
leader. He'd been a good soldier. The
men that were either under his command or served with him had
to respect him and like him. that those men abandoned Uriah
in the heat of battle. And Uriah had, I mean, I don't
know how he died, but it seems to me like in those dying moments,
he had to be so sad and he had to be shocked. What are these
men doing? What's going on? He had to be
shocked. Our Lord Jesus was abandoned
and completely alone. and his dying agony. He wasn't
surprised by it. He knew this is what he deserved
when he agreed to be made sin for his people. His disciples,
who swore they'd never leave him, they'll die with him, they
all ran and hid. And worse, God the Father turned
his back upon his son and abandoned him because sin was found on
his son. And our Lord died utterly alone. Because that's the eternal death
his people deserve to die. To be died eternally separated
from God in hell. And our substitute died alone
so that his people would never be forsaken. He died alone so
that he could make the promise to his people, I will never leave
you nor forsake you. He died alone, forsaken in battle. And last, Uriah the type of Christ
and that he died. This is not a fairy tale. This
man Uriah was actually killed and died. And our Lord Jesus,
God the Son himself, light himself, actually died. What a mystery. As long as we live on this earth
we'll never understand that God died. They took a lifeless body
down from that cross and laid a lifeless body in a tomb. He
died. He died to fulfill the law's
last demand. He died so that his people will
never die eternally. Now, David thought he got away
with it, didn't he? He thought he got away with it.
But the last verse in our chapter, in our text, says the thing that
David did displeased the Lord. Everybody else may not have saw
it. Everybody else may not have figured out what was going on.
God saw. Because God sees every sin. And I find comfort in that. And
that sounds like an odd statement for a sinner to make, doesn't
it? God sees every sin, but I'm thankful for this reason. He
sees every sin. He not missed one. That means
when he laid my sins on my substitute, he didn't miss one. He didn't
miss one. I will not arrive at the judgment
to hear, oh, we missed one. All of your sins but one were
laid on Christ. There's one left. That one would
damn me to hell for eternity. The father didn't just want.
He put them all on his son. And his son put them away. Now when Uriah died, here's a
contrast. He left a widow, didn't he? When
our Lord died, he didn't lose a wife. He didn't leave a widow.
He doesn't have any widows. In the death of our Lord Jesus
Christ, He redeemed his bride from the curse of the law and
purchased her to himself forever. If you're a child of God, you'll
never be left without a husband. He always will be yours. Now,
every week, at some point in the week, Janet and I always,
I try on her the things I'm going to try on you all. You know,
it gives me a little practice. And we were taking a walk one
evening and talking about this chapter. And she said, whenever
I hear this story, I always have the same thought. Assuming that
Uriah is one of the Lord's own, I think we can assume that. He
died in battle. About 20 years later, David died. Uriah went to glory. David went
to glory. David got there. What do they
talk about? What do they talk about? I have
no idea. I have got some conjecture, but
I have no idea, nothing based on scripture. But here's what
I do know. Our Lord Jesus Christ is sitting
enthroned in glory at this very moment, surrounded by a people
whose sins nailed him to the truth. He's surrounded by a people
whose sins cost him his life, and he receives each one of joyfully. I don't know. I'm confident of
this. Maybe I shouldn't say this because
it's not in scripture, but I'm confident of this. He never brings
it up. He's forgotten them. They've
been put away through his death. And that's what you are as a
picture. Well, I hope the Lord will bless that to your hearts.