In
2 Samuel 11:22-25, we see the messenger Joab sent to David appearing before the
king with the report of the status of the battle. The postscript about Uriah’s
death was a strategic move on Joab’s part. He knew that he had carried the
king’s order way beyond what was expected of him. Getting rid of Uriah was not
an issue, for that was David’s intention. But in his zeal to carry out the
order, he had caused the death of one life too many of his fighting force. In
pursuing the Ammonites, Uriah and the men of Joab came within the range of the
enemy’s arrows. Joab should have withdrawn the other men leaving Uriah to fend
for himself, but he did not. He had failed to strictly follow David’s
instruction and allowed the other men to also become easy pick for the Ammonite
archers. Hence, he assumed that David would be angry with him for causing the loss
of one life too many. So he strategically put the news of Uriah’s death at the
end of the report. He expected that the brief postscript would appease David.
And it certainly did. That was how conniving Joab was. In this account of David’s
sin, he was certainly the hand and Joab, the glove. All these underscore what Jeremiah
17:21 so rightly put, saying that the human heart “…is more deceitful
than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?”
When
David learned of Uriah’s death, even the news of the death of the other men did
not disturb his seared and hardened conscience. He was only too relieved to
hear of Uriah’s death that he did not even mind that other lives were wasted in
the process. This is the effect of sin. It causes a person to become
insensitive to what is judicious, so long as one’s wanton craving had been
gratified. So callous was David that he even encouraged Joab with some
very irresponsible commends in verse 25. The message to Joab was “Do not let
this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another.
Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.” It tells us how
unhinged David had become at this point. He had totally forgotten who he was,
and God was certainly very far from his mind. No responsible leader should ever
make such a commend. His pandering to sin had caused him to devalue the lives
of those who had so gladly served him. They became mere digit for his
manipulation. This is a warning to show us how blinding sin can be. It can
make us devalue the life of others, even those who have faithfully served with
us.
To
David this unsavory mission was complete. He had safely put Uriah away. He
thought his plan was fail-proofed and his sin was kept under wraps. David
reckoned that no one would ever know about it, or so he thought. But looming
beneath all that he had done were consequences awaiting to be unleashed. For nothing
is ever hidden from God’s eyes. Like David, we need to know that sin always
takes us further than we are willing to go; holds us longer than we are willing
to stay; and makes us pay more than we are willing to pay. This account
shows us the blinding effect of sin. It is a grim reminder for us to pause
frequently in our journey to spend time with God and to take stock of life. If
we do not, we will soon find ourselves pandering to the beckoning of the
unredeemed nature in us which God is still in the process of redeeming. We need
to take time to be holy and so to live a life that is wholly consecrated to
God.
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