Uriah
David’s Mighty Men - character trait “loyalty”
Uriah Table Questions
What does loyalty mean to you? Is there another word to describe loyalty to the Lord?Can you think of any times someone was disloyal to you ? Was that relationship ever repaired?Is there someone who stood by you through thick and thin?What are some ways we can show loyalty to our wives and families?Can you think of any times you were disloyal to someone? Was that relationship ever repaired? How?What might loyalty to our Heavenly Father look like? How does that loyalty help us honor our earthly relationships?
First Showing loyalty to my wife… I remember early on in our marriage, I was doing something for Julie, but whatever I was doing, I was doing it half-heartedly and she jokingly said, well you didn’t earn many points for that. That hurt, but I sniped back, am I being graded for everything I do? She never said that to me, but she never had to either. From then on, I put my heart into whatever I was doing for her
The last but not least on the list of David’s mighty men is in 2 Samuel 23:39 and Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.
These guys were an elite team along the lines of Navy Seals, Army Rangers or Green Berets; in Hebrew it calls them Gibborim (strong, brave, mighty)
This bunch didn’t start off that way though. 1 Samuel 22:1-2 So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s household heard of it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.
So these guys didn’t bring great reputation or resources to the table.
What did they bring? To answer that let’s focus in on the phrase “gathered to him” in verse 2. To say it another way; they became loyal to David. He was their leader, their chief, commander:
Here’s are some things I think describe loyalty:
- To Stick by
- To be willing to serve
- To be willing to follow
- To wait for
- To Sacrifice for
- To Speak well of
- To Care about
- To Honor
- To love (in a brotherly way)
l want to tell a silly but poignant story of loyalty I witnessed one day. I used to go eat lunch at this park near where I work in Bothell. I was sitting in my car finishing lunch and I noticed a male duck standing near the drainage ditch by the road. I looked closer and saw that the duck’s mate was lying dead in the ditch. The animal Kingdom can teach us something about loyalty.
Now the story of Uriah’s loyalty or faithfulness to David, then I’ll try to make an application to us.
2 Samuel 11:1-27 Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.
David let down, eased up, backed off… all that to say, he was passive… he wasn’t doing what he was supposed to. It’s hard not to think about David in this story. We’re conditioned to keep David at the center of this story, but remember we want to focus on Uriah
2 Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance.
David lusted - he broke the tenth commandment, he coveted, he was greedy.
3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
David schemed
4 David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he lay with her; and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. 5 The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, “I am pregnant.”
David broke the seventh commandment: he committed adultery,
6 Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked concerning the welfare of Joab and the people and the state of the war. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and a present from the king was sent out after him.
Enter Uriah the soldier before David the con man
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. 10 Now when they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in temporary shelters, 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 to drink and to lie with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing.”
Uriah shows his loyalty to the LORD, his country, his fellow soldiers (David and Bathsheba)
12 Then David said to Uriah, “Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you go.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 Now David called him, and he ate and drank before him, and he made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his bed with his lord’s servants, but he did not go down to his house.
Even in a compromised state, Uriah stayed loyal to David and Bathsheba. How was Uriah being loyal to his wife while not “going in to her”?
14 Now in the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 He had written in the letter, saying, “Place Uriah in the front line of the fiercest battle and withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and die.” 16 So it was as Joab kept watch on the city, that he put Uriah at the place where he knew there were valiant men. 17 The men of the city went out and fought against Joab, and some of the people among David’s servants fell; and Uriah the Hittite also died.
I wonder if Uriah figured out his situation was critical? Obviously David’s actions permanently damaged his relationship with Uriah
27 When the time of mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house and she became his wife; then she bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.
I want to zero in on how we might show loyalty to our wives and families
- Repentance trumps disloyalty
- Go back to my list of traits
Let’s extend that to loyalty toward the Lord. In what ways can we express our loyalty or faithfulness to the Lord?
Proverbs 21:21 He who pursues righteousness and loyalty Finds life, righteousness and honor.
Hosea 6:6 For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
From probably the age of about 12 till I was 24, I was disloyal to my parents. I broke their hearts more than once. And yet they stuck by me… When I was disloyal to them, it did long-term damage to a relationship. Thankfully, my parents were very gracious and kind and forgiving, and I owned up to my misbehavior.
My goal more than exhort you to loyalty is to describe how God went way beyond anything we could possibly do to show himself faithful and true.
2 Timothy 2:13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.
The way Uriah paid the penalty of death for David’s sin is a picture of how Christ died for our sin. It’s really a vivid metaphor for the Gospel.
Romans 5:8 God commended his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us
Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
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