David finds himself in a real bind.
He knows it’s only a matter of time before his affair with Bathsheba becomes public.
He also knows there’s no way he can cover up Bathsheba’s pregnancy.
Try as hard as he could, Uriyah stubbornly refused to leave the palace and go home.
So what does David do?
He does the thing we all do when we try to cover up our sins.
He commits another sin.
Only in David’s case, he is committing the two biggest death penalty offenses one can commit per the Law of Moses:
Adultery and murder.
Not a good spot to be in.
This is the ultimate abuse of royal power.
David knows that since he is king, there’s no way he’ll be brought to trial.
So he isn’t trying to save his life through his actions.
His behavior was all about power and politics, driven by sexual lust.
David’s ability to think rationally also seemed to be slipping.
The instructions David wrote in that letter he sent to Joab…
As chilling as they were, they were just as stupid.
I can only imagine what Joab muttered to himself when he opened the scroll and read David’s message.
“My uncle’s completely lost his marbles,” he probably said.
What David was asking was insane.
It was beyond delusional.
He wanted Joab to send Uriyah to the front of the battle where the fighting was the most intense.
And then at that instant, he wanted all the men to suddenly retreat, leaving Uriyah all alone.
Heck, as I type these words right now…
The absurdity of those orders is so clear.
First of all, Uriyah was the commander of the troops.
So any order to be abandoned would have to come from him himself.
Second, why would any military leader with even half a brain think of doing that in the first place?
Again, I can only imagine what Joab was thinking.
How were the wheels in his head turning as he contemplated the best way to fulfill David’s orders?
One thing we do know about Joab is that he was a cold-blooded political animal who wasn’t beyond murdering to protect his position.
Remember, he was the one who slew Avner when the northern general became a threat.
So while he understood how crazy David’s orders were…
I betcha it got his devious juices flowing.
“All I gotta do is find a way to get Uriyah killed so that it comes across as just another tragic death on the battlefield.”
The ruthless calculations in Joab’s head had begun.
What was he gonna do?
We’ll continue next time we meet.
For now, let’s transition over to the takeaway.
To me, this is a perfect example of what happens when we let ourselves become entangled in the spiderweb of sin.
Once we get in too deep, it becomes impossible to escape.
David was now in this situation.
And Joab was about to become an accomplice to David’s plans to kill Uriyah.
What can we do when we find ourselves on the slippery slope of sin?
The first step is to get off the slope.
Ya feel me.
Extricate yourself from that situation.
The best and fastest way to do that is to REPENT.
Repentance is the window of escape.
You either repent of your volition…
Or you’ll be forced to repent later…
Which is what we’ll see happen with David.
See ya all next time.
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