Tuesday 22nd October
Read 2 Samuel 11:6-9
“So David sent this word to Joab: ‘Send me Uriah the Hittite.’ And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, ‘Go down to your house and wash your feet.’ So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.” (NIVUK)
How does David respond to his adultery potentially going public? If he was as righteous as the king of Israel should be, then he would summon Uriah, confess, repent and hope for mercy. Unfortunately David does only one of those things – he summons Uriah, just as he summoned Uriah’s wife – and Uriah ‘came to him’, just as Bathsheba did. The attempted cover-up is clear. Though one suspects that Uriah was aware of the real reason for his summons and the king’s instructions (v9).
Why is our instinct never to confess our sin? We lean into any and every other solution. We long to constantly think well of ourselves and cannot confront the constant failures. We are blind to our own weakness. Jesus knew this. He knew that the real challenge was what lay within in our hearts, constantly lurking there, refusing to accept responsibility for our actions.
“He went on: ‘What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come – sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.’” (Mark 7:20-23) (NIVUK)
