The Cover-Up, Part 1

In the immediate aftermath of his adultery with Bathsheba, King David began a massive cover-up plot. Philip Keller writes, Uriah might easily have returned to rush at the king and use his valiant sword to sever the royal head.

The whole course of Israel's empire might have changed in an hour. David's very life, get this, and the entire future of his reign dangled on the slim thread of Uriah's unwavering character. We're all sinners, but there are two types of sinners in the world, those who confess and those who cover up. Only the first receives healing and restoration. How do you deal with your sin? And more to the point, how should you be dealing with your sin? Today on Wisdom for the Heart, Stephen Davey continues his series on the life of King David with this message that he's calling, The Cover-Up.

Here's Stephen. If you were to pick up the average newspaper, you would more than likely bump into an article or more detailing a scandal and some form of cover-up. It might be the recent corporate scandal of a major automaker who, instead of recalling automobiles that had malfunctioning parts, let it go and held their breath, and after 13 deaths, the truth came out. You might remember the famous Enron scandal and cover-up if you're old enough. You might be old enough to remember Watergate.

I won't ask for a show of hands on that one. The scandal and cover-up that ultimately brought about the resignation of the President of the United States. I did a search online by simply typing in the words, cover-up.

I got all kinds of sites on women's cosmetics. I'm not going to talk about that scandal at all. I'm going to skip that whole thing. Many of the sites had to do with conspiracies and scandals.

Some of them have gone back more than 100 years. In fact, I ended up spending a couple hours reading about some of these cover-ups, which I'm not even going to bring to your attention. I did go over and check out the dictionary definition of a cover-up, and here it is. An attempt to conceal evidence of wrongdoing, error, incompetence, or embarrassing information. In a passive cover-up, information is simply not provided. In an active cover-up, deception is used. And they added this little note.

I thought it was interesting. When a scandal breaks open, the discovery of an attempt to cover it up is often regarded as more reprehensible than the original deed. It's true. I even found one site that actually revealed the rather predictable steps in a cover-up. I guess if you want to deny how to do it, there you go.

Here they are. Denial was the first. Just deny, deny, deny, deny. Second step is a delayed response, that is delay as long as you can saying anything, about anything. Third was intimidate any potential witness or whistleblower into maintaining silence. Finally, once it's out in the open, the fourth step is simply called damage control.

Some things never change. In fact, I mentally took those steps back into the life of David and his sin with Bathsheba and the cover-up that's going to occur and discovered that his actions actually fit perfectly with this age-old pattern of a cover-up. Denial, he'll act as if nothing happened. Delayed response, just don't say anything, stall as long as possible. Deceive any possible whistleblower, and he's going to do that as we'll see.

And finally, damage control. Keep in mind that what is occurring in the life of David is occurring when he has just passed his 50th birthday. He may be 51 or 52, we're not exactly sure, but he's in his early 50s. By now he has composed perhaps hundreds of songs declaring the glory of God.

His creativity has provided a rich musical literature for his nation. He's renowned as a faithful servant of God. He's bearing this title as a man after God's own heart. At an age when he ought to be primed and ready for spiritual leadership to produce even richer fruit for God, he's not only going to sin, but he's going to engage in an unimaginable cover-up.

Before we dive in, let me give you a couple of observations that we can uncover right here at the outset of simply knowing his age and some of his past. First, physical maturity does not exempt you from sinning. In other words, you're never too old to sin. You don't outgrow the tempter. You don't reach a point in your life, well, I'm old enough, I've seen enough, and he can't trip me up. No, the only thing you've done in growing older is just give the enemy of your soul more time to figure you out, to try new things, to resurface old things that failed the first time around. He's searching for weak spots and chinks in the armor.

So you never let down your guard no matter how old you are. By the way, we're not simply uncovering David's sin. We're really asking the Spirit of God to uncover ours, aren't we? We're not just going to talk about David's ability to cover up.

We're going to expose by the Spirit of God working through his Word in our own hearts things that I may not even reference. But our ability to sweep something under the rug, perhaps for you at this very moment, it might come in the form of padding an expense account. It might be some lust for popularity. It might be in the form of a relationship that's just beginning to get off the ground that you know is off limits.

A compromise in some area. It might be a longing for wealth. Frankly, that's all you think about. No one would know it. Or maybe it's a longing for power or prestige. The truth is, Beth, Sheba's come in many disguises.

And you're never too old to take the bait of maybe a new disguise. About ten years ago, I shared with our assembly about that afternoon. I took Dr. John Walvard back to the airport. At that time he was the president of my alma mater Dallas Seminary. A dear friend of our church, he prayed for us every day. I was taking him back. It would be his last visit here with us. He's now with the Lord.

We were just talking about ministry in general. And he made an off-handed comment as if he were talking to himself. In fact, I remember looking over at him to see if he was talking to me or what.

And he was looking out the window and he just muttered under his breath and then he repeated it. I just want to finish well. I just want to finish well. When he said that, he was in his 80s. At a time when we might think, well, of course, you're going to finish well. For goodness sake, you're 83. No, he understood the danger.

And the danger never goes away even though you're near the finish line. Physical maturity does not exempt any of us from sin. Secondly, spiritual maturity does not exempt any of us from the worst of sins. Now, all sin is sinful, right? But some sins have longer, deeper, more far-reaching consequences than others. Now, as I mentioned in our last study together, chapter 11 of 2 Samuel is a transition chapter in his biography.

It's a hinge. Everything prior to it is, for the most part, positive. Everything after it, for the most part, is tragic. You could label the first half of his life and his reign, I should say. Simply caption it, David's triumphs beginning at chapter 11 and to the end of his life, you could caption his reign, David's tragedies. So as we pick our study back up at 2 Samuel chapter 11, we're going to watch as David begins perhaps one of the most infamous cover-ups in the record of biblical history.

It doesn't get any worse than this. And for the sake of a rather quick overview, we're going to actually get to, from verse 6, we're going to go all the way to the end of the chapter. And so it's going to be fairly quick in an overview. But let me give you four steps in this cover-up and we'll allow those to sort of be pegs for our mental hats. We're going to call step 1, staying calm.

Staying calm. Let's go back to verse 4 and get a running start. So David sent messengers and took her, Bathsheba. And she came to him and he lay with her.

And she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness. Then she returned to her house and the woman conceived and she sent and told David, I am pregnant. So David sent word to Joab, send me Uriah, the Hittite.

That's her husband. And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going.

Probably, what's the weather like on the front? Now he's quick on his feet, David is. He's internally troubled, of course, devastated by the news that could find him out. But no need to panic at this point. Just act nice.

Stay calm. He has a plan and let's see how it works. Now, Uriah might have wondered why David wanted him to return from battle to give a report. But then again, he's been with David since the early years.

He's one of his original 37 mighty men. A man that David could trust with his life as they ran from Saul, the king. So this sudden request, I imagine, it could have been considered a compliment from the king. Uriah might have been pleased, perhaps even flattered to think, well, David, trust me enough that he brings me home to give him the true story, the off-the-record real story of what's happening at the front lines. David, verse 8, ends the evening by effectively saying, listen, why don't you go down to your house and wash your feet? He doesn't say that because he's been smelling Uriah's feet. They would have been dirty, of course, wearing those open-toed Israeli cleats. The Romans would pick it up later. This is a euphemism for go home and relax and enjoy an evening with your wife.

And notice something that's easy to overlook. Verse 8, Uriah went out of the king's house and there followed him a present from the king. Now, we're not told, by the way, what that present was. Most commentators that mentioned anything about it thought it was food. It's probably a good enough guess, something satisfying for this battle-weary, no doubt hungry soldier who's been living off rations off the land. He hadn't had a good meal, a decent meal, probably in a long time. You just picture David sending along behind Uriah what would constitute a candlelight dinner. Mashed potatoes, no peas, just good stuff, right?

So there they go. He's thinking, this is it? He's not going to need to leave his house, borrow food from the neighbors for this unexpected visit. In fact, it's all set up.

I mean, this is going to be the perfect evening. But, verse 9, but Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his Lord and did not go down to his house. David can't believe it.

In fact, the first time I read that and maybe you read that, you're thinking, I can't believe it. He camps out on the king's front porch. Middle part of verse 10, David said to Uriah, have you not come from a journey? That Hebrew phrase means from a military campaign. I mean, verse 10, why didn't you go down to your house?

You've just come in from brutal, difficult conditions. Now you had a roast duck and cranberry sauce and you didn't go down to your wife? Uriah said to David in this amazing response, verse 11, the ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, tents, and my Lord Joab and the servants of my Lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink and to lie with my wife? By the way, that would be a stabbing rebuke to this comfortable king who's been lounging in bed instead of leading his troops into battle. Uriah effectively says here, how can I take a furlough and enjoy what my comrades can't enjoy? While they implied you ought to be with them and the ark of God implied that's the will of God, we are camping out in open peril against our enemies. I wouldn't think of taking my thoughts, mind or body away from them.

It would be disloyal and disgraceful. Step one is stay calm. That didn't work.

We'll call step two, apply pressure. Notice what he does. Verse 12, then David said to Uriah, remain here today also and tomorrow I'll send you back. So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. Now David is doing two things here for us to observe. First, he's giving Uriah the same tempting offer only now it's another full day and another evening. Maybe even, we're not told, by now Bathsheba knows he's in town and has come and personally invited him home.

We're not told. But keep in mind, David assumes Uriah is going to act just like him. You know, I'm just going to swing this carrot in front of him but this next full day and another night, surely he's going to go down to his house. But Uriah won't bite. So the second thing he does is he uses the only drug he has available to try and get Uriah to lower his inhibitions and set aside his nobility, conviction and loyalty to his troops. Look at verse 13, and David invited him and he ate in his presence and drank so much that he, David, made him, Uriah, drunk. Pour it on, Uriah, here, another, until he's drunk. In the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his Lord but he did not go to his house.

In other words, he stays in battle gear, he camps back out on the front porch with the other guards. And you think, what's this guy made of? Even when he's drunk he won't capitulate.

One author wrote this thought-provoking statement. He said that Uriah had more character when he was drunk than David had when he was sober. Now David is completely panicked.

He knows at this point he has exhausted his options. Any further attempt to keep Uriah home from the battlefield, any further suggestion, why don't you go home? Why didn't you go home? Go home again.

I'll keep you another day or night. No, no, no. That would come dangerously close to tipping his hand. In fact, there were some Hebrew commentators who believed that by now Uriah would be suspicious that something is wrong. Something is out of character. Why am I given roast duck? Why am I brought home unfurled?

Why does he keep telling me, go home and be with your wife? The narrative is ambiguous. It doesn't tell us what Uriah is thinking about this, but it would be a strange furlough. He would have been wondering now about the showering of attention and the repeated offers to go home. But it is very likely at this point that David in his panic assumes that Uriah is suspicious. He's going to put two and two together, and nine months from now he's going to ask some questions. David can't take any chances.

So he's going to take another step, and in this step he's going to take actually one very big chance. Before I give you that step, look at verse 14. In the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

In the letter he wrote, Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting. Then all of you draw back from him, that is retreat, leave him there alone, that he may be struck down and die. We stayed calm. It didn't work.

We applied pressure every which way we could. That didn't work. So now simply step number three, conspire to kill. Dead men tell no tales. Imagine how far David is falling. In fact, he uses his faithful comrade to deliver his own death warrant to Joab, his commander. And don't miss the fact that the only way this cover-up at this point is even going to get off the launching pad is for Uriah to remain a man of character. What if he opened the letter? What if he decided to find out what the king had ordered?

What if he decided to try to figure out what this was all about, and this is strange, and I think I'll just break the seal, and take a look, and then heat the wax back up and no one will be the wiser. One author said, had he done that on the way back, the whole course of Israel's empire might have changed in an hour. In the white heat of his flaming anger, Philip Keller writes, Uriah might easily have returned to rush at the king and use his valiant sword to sever the royal head. It would not be the first time a monarch was murdered in revenge and he had a cause. David's very life, get this, and the entire future of his reign dangled on the slim thread of Uriah's unwavering character.

Imagine. He will remain honest and loyal. He will be an innocent bystander caught up in the cruelty and the carnality of this cover-up.

There's another principle that comes to mind here in this text that's worth pausing to add it to the record. When someone becomes captured willingly sidetracked, ensnared by sin and this ensuing cover-up, they rarely if ever stop to think, here it is, sin has a way of hurting the most those who trust you the most. And here it's one of David's mighty men, a faithful, loyal, honest, committed, passionate soldier who is now carrying in his own hand an order from his king that will end his life. Now Joab realizes that David's plan is full of holes. In fact, if you carefully study this, and I'll try to point out a couple of points here, he changes David's plan because he knows it is way too obvious to put Uriah in the front and then suddenly for everybody to retreat, leaving Uriah there, you might as well put it on a billboard, David wants Uriah dead.

That isn't going to work. So notice what he does instead, verse 16. As Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. In other words, these are the best enemy soldiers.

This is one of the hottest places to be fighting. Note, and the men of that city, these enemy soldiers, came out and fought against, not Uriah, notice who? Joab. And some of the servants of David, you'll notice verse 17, among the people fell and Uriah the Hittite also died. By the way, don't overlook the fact that Uriah isn't the only one who dies here. In order to improvise, in order to make this look as realistic as possible, Joab is not only going to risk his own life, he's going to lose several men in this battle. Bathsheba is not the only widow made by David's sin.

That's my point. Joab's response and the way he adapts, the way he improves upon David's command to make sure it's realistic, imply, and other authors bring out this point, that he knew exactly what David was covering up. He knew Uriah. His position in the army would have known the family of David's chief counselor, Bethithophel, and Bathsheba was his granddaughter.

Probably knew her personally. He certainly knew Uriah. And Joab had probably wondered why David called Uriah back to Jerusalem. I mean, we're camped out here against the enemy and you're taking one of the mighty men, one of the first string guys off the court. He's likely heard how David has lavished praise on Uriah, recommending he spend several nights on furlough. That's out of character.

That's strange. And now, here comes Uriah back to the battlefield carrying a letter from the king, and it takes him about two seconds to figure it out. This ruthless, battle-hardened, character-less general, by the way, tore open this letter handed to him by Uriah without blinking an eye in disbelief, one author wrote, without showing a single emotion of revulsion, without a moment's hesitation, evidently crumpled that letter up in his hand and orders Uriah and a group of men to follow him to the hottest place in the battle.

What's Joab have to gain? You might wonder, I think F.B. Meyer, a wonderful expositor of more than 100 years ago, who pastored in England. In his commentary on this text, which I have enjoyed, in fact, I compared his comment back to what I know will happen later in this biography, and I'll show you more of that later.

I think he's right. He wrote this. Joab probably laughed to himself when he read the letter. This master of mine can sing psalms with the best, but when he wants a piece of dirty work done, he comes to me.

Well, I'll help him to it, and I shall be able to do in the future whatever I want, and he will. He will become unaccountable to King David. He will later kill and then kill again with his own hand, a rival to the throne, without any recourse from David. David remains silent. In fact, there's going to be a coming day that we'll see together in our study that Joab will openly defy a command of the king, and Joab will take his spear and stab through Absalom, the king's own son.

No recourse. Joab will effectively blackmail David for the rest of his life. David has enlisted the help of a brutal, ungodly man, and he will live with consequences far greater than he ever bargained for. Well, Joab carries out his orders.

Verse 24 tells us that he sends back the messenger to tell David the part that David is really listening for, and that is this. Mission accomplished. Uriah is dead. Now it's time for step four in the cover-up to polish up what remains. The first step, stay calm. That didn't work. The next step, apply pressure. That didn't work. The next step, conspire to kill.

That worked. And now we'll call this final step, and it's the final step in every cover-up. We'll call it this, keep up appearances. Isn't covering up sin a tendency we all have? We're not always quick to admit when we're wrong.

Sometimes we try to deflect the blame and make people think that it wasn't us. The example of David is a powerful reminder of how not to deal with sin. But the story is going to continue, so we need to pause right here and resume this lesson tomorrow. Stephen is calling this lesson, the cover-up, here on Wisdom for the Heart. We're so glad that you join us for these daily Bible lessons. But there's more to our ministry. We also have a magazine that includes articles written by Stephen to explore topics related to the Christian life. In the past, we've dealt with issues such as how to forge friendships, a biblical look at Islam, angels and demons, marriage, Christian engagement in politics, and much, much more. The magazine also has a daily devotional guide.

Those are written to help you stay rooted in God's Word each day. The magazine is called Heart to Heart. We send Heart to Heart magazine to all of our Wisdom partners, but we'd be happy to send you a sample issue if you'd like to see it for yourself. You can sign up for it on our website, or you can call us today. Our number is 866-48-BIBLE. That's 866-482-4253. We'd love to talk with you and introduce you to this resource, Heart to Heart magazine. Call today or visit wisdomonline.org. Well, thanks again for joining us today. We're glad you were with us, and I hope you'll be with us again as we conclude this lesson next time, right here on Wisdom for the Heart.