Would you like to read James McNaught’s novel Sinking Sand”? click here: Sinking Sand
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
2 Samuel 11:14–27, “And 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 retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die. And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were. And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; 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, And if so be that the king’s wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye did fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall? Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why went ye nigh the wall? then say thou, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. So the messenger went, and came and shewed 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 of the gate. 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. Then 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 mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.”
David was frustrated in his plan to cover his adultery because Uriah was a loyal and honourable soldier. He devised an, even more, evil plan and sent a note back with Uriah telling Joab to make sure that Uriah was put in a bad place so that he would be killed in battle. Joab was used to scheming and conniving so he didn’t think twice about the king’s request. Joab knew that David would want to know, as soon as possible, that Uriah was dead so he sent a messenger back to let the king know. He told the messenger to make sure that king understood that Uriah was dead. Joab even made plans to cover the possibility that David would make a show of being angry that men were killed unnecessarily. The messenger told David that Uriah was dead and David took it well. He just said that sometimes people die in war and not to be too upset. This plan seemed to have worked and David waited till Bathsheba finished mourning the death of her husband and then took her and she became the king’s wife. David seemed to be quite happy, at that stage, but the Lord knew what David had done and wasn’t going to let David get away with this crime.
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