In the Mud

In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem. Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. (2 Samuel 11:1-2 NLT)

I find myself hesitating to even write on this passage of Scripture because so many sermons, lessons, and books have been presented on the subject.  King David is about to fall from grace.  He's going to take another man's wife, get her pregnant, then kill the man who is her husband.  Then he marries the woman himself, breaking the laws against coveting, adultery, and murder.  David really blows it this time.

He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, "She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite." Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home. (2 Samuel 11:3-4 NLT)

When we want to go against God, it's amazing how quickly we justify our actions.  Bathsheba had just completed the purification rites after her menstrual period.  That means she's allowed to have sexual intercourse again.  The law prevented her from having intercourse during the seven days of her cycle.  Now it's ok...with her husband.

Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, "I'm pregnant." Then David sent word to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent him to David. When Uriah arrived, David asked him how Joab and the army were getting along and how the war was progressing. Then he told Uriah, "Go on home and relax. " David even sent a gift to Uriah after he had left the palace. But Uriah didn't go home. He slept that night at the palace entrance with the king's palace guard. (2 Samuel 11:5-9 NLT)

God's design for human sexuality is really quite beautiful.  A man and a woman make a commitment before God to be faithful to one another.  This brings them together into a special covenant-commitment relationship called marriage.  Everyone knows they are in that relationship, so we know those two are no longer available as potential mates.  The two of them are given a gift by God.  That gift gives intimacy, pleasure, and the gift of children.  It's no wonder we are attracted to the desire to have this in our lives.

When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he summoned him and asked, "What's the matter? Why didn't you go home last night after being away for so long?" Uriah replied, "The Ark and the armies of Israel and Judah are living in tents, and Joab and my master's men are camping in the open fields. How could I go home to wine and dine and sleep with my wife? I swear that I would never do such a thing." "Well, stay here today," David told him, "and tomorrow you may return to the army." So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. Then David invited him to dinner and got him drunk. But even then he couldn't get Uriah to go home to his wife. Again he slept at the palace entrance with the king's palace guard. So the next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver. The letter instructed Joab, "Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back so that he will be killed." (2 Samuel 11:10-15 NLT)

The problem occurs when we start wanting part of that picture without the other parts.  Usually the part everyone wants separated out is the sexual pleasure.  We say that sexuality with someone over a certain age and another person under that age is wrong, but two under age people are "experimenting" and two people over that age are "consenting."  We train our children how to have sexual intercourse "safely" then are shocked when they get pregnant or contract a life-threatening disease.  When they do get pregnant, we tell them they have a "choice" to remove the "growth" inside them before it becomes a "problem."  We tell them to go ahead and live together with their prospective spouse to find out if they are "compatible" sexually.  Even after marriage, we say, they can leave and go to another if they simply "fall out of love"...it's not their "fault"...God must have a plan. When we cannot deal with the differences between the genders, we tell them to go ahead and get sexual pleasure from someone of the same gender...at least there's no risk of getting pregnant that way.  We've taken God's picture and completely drug it though the mud, stomped on it, and left it nearly impossible to see.

So Joab assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall where he knew the enemy's strongest men were fighting. And when the enemy soldiers came out of the city to fight, Uriah the Hittite was killed along with several other Israelite soldiers. Then Joab sent a battle report to David. He told his messenger, "Report all the news of the battle to the king. But he might get angry and ask, 'Why did the troops go so close to the city? Didn't they know there would be shooting from the walls? Wasn't Abimelech son of Gideon killed at Thebez by a woman who threw a millstone down on him from the wall? Why would you get so close to the wall?' Then tell him, 'Uriah the Hittite was killed, too.'" So the messenger went to Jerusalem and gave a complete report to David. "The enemy came out against us in the open fields," he said. "And as we chased them back to the city gate, the archers on the wall shot arrows at us. Some of the king's men were killed, including Uriah the Hittite." "Well, tell Joab not to be discouraged," David said. "The sword devours this one today and that one tomorrow! Fight harder next time, and conquer the city!" (2 Samuel 11:16-25 NLT)

The only thing we haven't completely condoned and taught our children is murder.  We still call that wrong, write laws against it, and lock people up when they do it.  Had David lived today, his story wouldn't even make a good soap opera.  It definitely wouldn't make it to prime time television.  It's simply too tame...too boring.  It's been done...over and over again.

When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. When the period of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her to the palace, and she became one of his wives. Then she gave birth to a son. But the LORD was displeased with what David had done. (2 Samuel 11:26-27 NLT)

Me? I like God's picture.  I enjoy my wife, the intimacy we have, and the children we've received.  I give thanks for each of these gifts, not because I'm afraid of God's displeasure, but because the picture really is beautiful.  It's a shame more people haven't figured that out.  I think if they actually saw it and realized how great it was, they would pull the picture out of the mud, clean it off, and enjoy it themselves, too.