The Cover-Up, Part 2

He knew Uriah. His position in the army would have known the family of David's chief counselor Ahithophel, and Bathsheba was his granddaughter. 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. 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. It's so easy to try and cover up our sin. That's often one of our first thoughts when we sin.

How can I keep this hidden? Sometimes we think we've gotten away with it when there are no immediate consequences. And that's exactly what King David thought in our passage today. He committed adultery and then committed murder to cover up the adultery, and he thought he was in the clear. But we can never hide our sin from the person who matters most, God. God told us exactly what to do whenever we sin. We don't cover up. We confess. And that's our theme today here on Wisdom for the Heart. Here's Stephen Davey with today's message. Okay, 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, Well, 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 for 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 believe 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 on furlough?

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.

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, doesn't 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, Ahithophel, 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. You'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, characterless 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 a hundred years ago, 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. But 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, and 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. Now the first attempt to keep up appearances is ironically to Joab himself. In fact, if you look at verse 25, David sends a messenger back with a message to Joab. Obviously, in between the lines it says, Joab, please keep this secret with me.

Okay? What he does say, though, is still crass and cruel. He says, do not let this matter trouble you. Make a note of that verb. You could translate it, displease you, or even more woodenly, don't let this be evil in your eyes. You're going to see that verb a little later.

Why? For the sword devours now one and now another. In other words, this is war, Joab.

I mean, think about it. He probably would have died anyway. This is the nature of battle.

Innocent people get caught in the crossfire, and you know, what's done is done. Joab and David will keep their secret for nearly a year. Even after it's exposed, Joab is given a free pass for the rest of his military career. In the meantime, there's going to be a state funeral. You can only imagine the text doesn't inform us, but this is one of the mighty men. There's going to be accolades. There will be speeches from David about the life and career of this faithful comrade and how much he misses him and all of that.

Can you imagine? Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was the brilliant German commander of World War II, nicknamed the Desert Fox. I'm reading one biography that includes how crafty and brilliant he was tactically. Churchill just couldn't pin him down and he just created havoc on the British and their allies. Rommel was regarded as a disciplined soldier and a humane man as well. In fact, after the war, none of his troops will be accused of any war crimes. Enemy soldiers captured during his Africa campaign were reported to have been treated humanely, kindly. What's really interesting in his biography is that orders to kill Jewish soldiers and Jewish citizens that he captured along the way he consistently ignored.

He refused to carry them out. In fact, late in the war, Rommel joined others in an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. He was caught, implicated in the conspiracy.

It was true. But because of his hero's status and the damage it would do to German morale, Hitler offered Rommel the opportunity to take his own life. He promised him he'd take care of the family. There wouldn't be any embarrassment out of this.

There'd be a pension. All he had to do was drive off with two generals, take a cyanide pill, which he did. Fifteen minutes after he drove away, a hospital called his wife and informed her that her husband had just died from battle wounds. Hitler, in keeping up appearances, wired Rommel's wife, asking her to, and I quote, except my sincerest sympathy for the heavy loss you have just suffered. Hermann Göring, another man in this public appearances stage of cover-up, headed up the Luftwaffe, the Air Force, joined in with his writing to the widow. And I quote, the fact that your husband has died a hero's death as the result of his wounds has deeply touched me.

We might expect such a sham from Nazis and a hundred other regimes, but this is Israel. This is David. This is David getting up and delivering a speech that his death has touched him. This faithful warrior.

By the way, there's another person involved in this cover-up. Verse 26. When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah, her husband, was dead, she lamented over her husband. By the way, the author of Scripture reminds us in one sentence three different times that she was married.

He doesn't want us to forget it. When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah, her husband, was dead, she lamented over her husband. No doubt to me there would be tears of genuine sadness. They were mixed with this tragic guilt and a secret she's unwilling to yield. I would agree with Old Testament scholars that there is the implication here in what happens next that she knows what will happen next. There's a pension in her future. From the silence of chapter 11 and the confrontation, we'll see later in chapter 12, she willingly sits through the funeral smiling. She listens to the speeches and she accepts all the hugs of visitors who talk about her faithful husband and her a faithful wife. She puts on the appearance. Yes, she has been. All the while, in secret, there's a baby growing in her womb. She never whispers a word.

Now, we're never allowed into her thoughts. In fact, the focus of Scripture is on the sin of David. What we are told, however, in verse 27 is this, and it would be odd, although I think they could probably get away with it as they did for a while.

It says this, as soon as the traditional time of mourning was over, David sent for her and she became his wife. I mean the clock struck midnight. That's the end of mourning.

Take off the black clothes and let's go down the aisle. They waste no time, frankly. They can't afford to waste time.

Everybody can count to nine months. But don't miss this. She didn't say no to David the first time, and she doesn't say no here either.

She ought to be so angry and so crushed and so bitter and so resentful that the last thing she would ever do is become one of his wives. Not on your life. In fact, now's the time to come out with a secret. I'm not going to marry you. You're covering up. Here's what really happened.

You say, well, now wait a second. This is Israel, and they didn't do that kind of thing. Oh, Vashti told the king to take a hike. She lost her throne and her crown, but she said no to him when Esther said yes.

She had every right to say no. The truth is, and it isn't pretty, Bathsheba is joining David in keeping up appearances and keeping their secret, and they're going to keep it for almost an entire year until a godly man comes along and points his finger. In the meantime, David's marriage to Bathsheba would have been interpreted as kindness on his part. Isn't that wonderful that the king would bring Bathsheba into his home and care for her?

And aren't they so photogenic? The handsome king, the beautiful wife, and this is perfect. You could just write the end.

They lived happily ever after on this fairy tale. The end, though, has not been written. In fact, I haven't even read the last statement in the chapter.

Look there. But the thing that David had done displeased, there's that verb, it was evil in the sight of the Lord. Now, so far, God hasn't said anything. So far, God hasn't acted. God hasn't intervened. God hasn't asserted himself, but he is present. You can never cover up with God.

For the person who knows God personally through faith in Christ, the Son of God, a cover-up is as foolish as an ostrich sticking her head in the sand and saying, all is well. We are living on borrowed time. God will have the last word.

So if you're taking mental notes, mark this. The silence of God does not indicate the absence of God. I could say it another way. The patience of God does not imply the approval of God.

Even though the nation, the kingdom, David's royal entourage would have said, isn't that wonderful as they threw rice at the bride and groom. In fact, David is going to endure what he will write about later in one of his Psalms, and I think we may take an additional week. I'm not sure yet, but he'll write about his confession and he'll say, up until the time when I was exposed and I truly repented, he'll talk about losing weight. He will talk about physical illnesses. He will talk about high fever. He will talk about his haunted memories. He will talk about his sleepless nights. He will talk about his agony and guilt. Every step downward, David had two choices, confess or cover up.

When he receives the news, I'm pregnant. Confess or cover up. I'm going to cover up. That didn't work. Well, I'm going to cover up rather than confess. That didn't work. Well, I could confess, but no, I'm now going to take a man's life and now I'm going to keep up appearances.

I'm going to add this woman to my retinue of wives. Here's the lesson. It's rather obvious, isn't it? Don't choose to cover up sin. Maybe you're covering it up today. Maybe there's some thing, some person, some activity you've shoved under the rug and you've assumed no one's found out yet the end. Don't choose to confess and ask God for the grace and the goodness of God that brings us to genuine repentance. We need that daily, don't we? No matter how embarrassing, no matter how painful, no matter how disturbing, no matter how alarming.

I read this story just this week in my research of a man who had stolen a cap from a university student that they were playing ball against and 50 years later he was so eaten up with that, he couldn't find that student to return it. I think the place to start is calling sin what it is and when we do that, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He forgives confession of sin, not excuses and he will not forgive cover ups. So let's learn to sing with the hymn writer who wrote it so well. Oh to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be. Let thy grace now like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee. You remember, you're never too old to sing this stanza. Prone to wander, Lord, I what?

I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. So here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it.

Bring it back, wrap it up, seal it for thy courts. Deal with my heart daily because I am prone, aren't you, to cover up. May we instead confess. David isn't the only one whose tendency is to want to cover up sin instead of confess sin. All of us have sin in our life.

We can't fully escape it, but we can learn to deal with our sin properly. And I hope Stephen's message has helped you today. You're listening to Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davey. This message was called The Cover Up.

It comes from our series through the life of King David called The Singer. How would your life change if you set aside one year to study God's word, experience authentic community, grow in discipleship, take a study trip to Israel, and earn your master's degree in theological studies all in one year? Stephen is the president of Shepherd's Theological Seminary. That school offers a special program called Shepherd's Institute where you can experience all that I just described. This unique one-year program offers a life-changing opportunity to all believers, no matter your vocation. We've had men and women join us right out of college and before entering their career. They spend one year in God's word, earn their master's degree, and then enter the workforce better equipped to serve God in their church and community. We've also had men join us who believe they were called to be a pastor. They did this program and then jumped into the Master of Divinity program. Whatever God has called you to, investing one year like this would help you tremendously.

There's a link to Shepherd's Seminary at the bottom of our website. Visit wisdomonline.org. That's all for today. I'm Scott Wiley and on behalf of Stephen and the entire wisdom team, thanks for listening. Have a great weekend and then join us next time for more wisdom for the heart. you