The Other Man

Introduction

I want to begin this morning with a solicitation, and that is a solicitation for your prayers in two regards. One is, you may have noticed that uh Deedra’s not here this morning. She is in Missouri. She’s gone to help her mother and her siblings to place her father into a care facility. Her father is dealing with uh advanced stages of Alzheimer’s, and so uh I solicit your prayers on her behalf. She’ll be coming back home, flying back home today after having placed her dad uh in Alzheimer’s unit. Also, prayers on my behalf, she gets home today and I leave tomorrow. Uh I will be heading to South Africa uh for a couple weeks uh for preaching of the gospel. Uh be going with Brother Ed Brand.

Uh we’ll be leaving tomorrow, Lord willing, and then coming back about November the second. Uh we’ll be at different several different locations uh in South Africa, working with several different preachers, uh working with some Christians and non-Christians alike, uh, and I solicit your prayers, and I appreciate so much the opportunity uh that you’ve afforded me, so thankful for the elders uh and for their op allowing me this opportunity to go and to preach. I’m thankful for Greg, who will be uh again doing double duty uh in my absence, and so thankful for you and for your fellowship in this work and as again your prayers that I’m soliciting uh on behalf of this work and for our safe travel. Uh I will be uh assuming that I have good internet access, and I believe that I will in most of these locations.

I’ll be posting a journal of the work. So if you’re interested and kind of want to follow those travels, uh, we’ll make that link accessible to you so that you can kind of follow along because we’re going on your behalf and we’ll be taking you with you. So much appreciate again your prayers on this behalf. Now, for this morning’s lesson, if you’ll turn to the book of 2 Samuel, chapter 11. 2 Samuel chapter 11 will be the text for our lesson this morning. And if that reference didn’t ring a bell, as you’ve turned to that passage in your Bible, I’m sure it’s now familiar to you. Because a lot, and that’s no exaggeration, a lot of sermons have been preached from 2 Samuel 11, haven’t they?

My unscientific research says that the average Christian will listen to 238 sermons from 2 Samuel chapter 11 in their lifetime. It’s obviously the story of David and Bathsheba. How would you like for the worst incident in your life to be maybe the most remembered incident in your life? Well, it is for David.

Talking about sin and how sin can get a hold of us, and then subsequently how we are to deal with that sin. But this morning, I don’t want to talk about David or Bathsheba. There’s another character that can kind of get lost in this story. And I’ve simply given him the title, The Other Man. This morning I’d like to talk to you about Uriah the Hittite. And instead of reading the familiar account in 2 Samuel chapter 11, I hope that you’ll indulge me in kind of a retelling of the story. But this time from the vantage point of Uriah. And I ask for your indulgence because the story is understandably told from David’s vantage point. And so much of the information that I’ll kind of supply may be speculation.

1. The Story from Uriah’s Vantage Point

But hopefully it’ll help us to understand the vantage point of the other man. If the story is told from his vantage point, the story begins in the spring of the year. He is in or on the battlefield. If you could call it a battlefield at this point, because they’re besieging the city of Rabbah. A siege was just simply you surrounded that city, and were really just trying to wait them out or starve them out. And they were sitting there, they had defeated this nation, and Joab and the army was surrounded around Rabbah, just waiting. Waiting for their surrender, or waiting for a few stragglers to try to escape the city, and they would be picked off as that happened. And as they were waiting, Uriah and his comrades on the battlefield saw a messenger coming.

That messenger probably went to Joab, the commander of the army first, and then made his way to the portion of the field where Uriah was. And he may be announced, I’m looking for Uriah. Uriah raised his hand and said, I’m Uriah. And he says, You’ve been ordered to come back to the capital. The king wants to see you. Don’t you imagine a couple things may have gone through Uriah’s mind? What?

To go all the way back to the capital to see the king? Maybe his mind began to wander and he wondered, wonder why. I hope nothing’s going wrong at home. But no, that couldn’t be it. You don’t call a soldier back just because his wife’s sick or the house is burned down. Maybe he speculated, maybe, maybe I’m going to be given a medal. David’s heard of my bravery on the battlefield, and I’m going to be given a promotion or a medal, but no, that’s not the way it’s done in the army. But since he’s a soldier, he does what a soldier does, and that is he follows commands, and so he goes with the messenger back to Jerusalem. And he’s brought before the king, and the king says, I’ve got three questions for you.

How’s the battle going? How’s Joab, the commander of the army? And how are the soldiers doing? Uriah would have answered those questions dutifully. And the king said, Okay, thanks for the report. You live close to here, don’t you? Why don’t you go home and spend the night and see your why? Don’t you imagine Uriah was scratching his head? What was that? I was called from the battlefield back to the palace to see the king for those three questions. That young messenger boy could have answered those questions. How’s the battle going? How’s Joab? How are the soldiers doing? We know from the story that’s recorded in 2 Samuel 11 that Uriah must have lived fairly close to the king’s palace because remember David had seen Bathsheba bathing from the rooftop.

And so maybe Uriah stepped out from the palace and looked down the street in the direction of his home. And I can imagine something was pulling him in that direction. But he couldn’t do it. Knowing that his fellow soldiers were still on the battlefield, he just couldn’t bring himself to go home. And so he slept there on the steps. The next day the king brings him back in, and the king’s still acting strangely. The king’s throwing a party. And he’s invited to that party, and the king keeps supplying him with drink, and the end of the evening encourages him again, why don’t you go home and see your why? But again, a sense of duty prevents him, and he sleeps on the doorstep. He’s later sent back to the battlefield with a scroll that has been sealed with the king’s seal.

With the instructions to give this to Joab. Don’t you imagine as he was going back to the battlefield? Again, he must have been scratching his head. What was that all about? Who brings a soldier back from the battlefield to ask him mundane questions about the battle? And I wonder what this is. I don’t know about you, Ryan. I don’t know about you, but I’d have been curious. I’d have probably held it up to the light and see if I could make out some of the words in there. Is this the commendation? Is this some kind of promotion for me? I wonder what this is. Why me instead of a messenger carrying this back? But he’s a soldier. He doesn’t defy his king’s trust. He gives the instructions to Joab, makes his way back to this place on the battlefield.

And again, the text doesn’t tell us this, but I can imagine the soldiers there saying, Uriah, where did you go? Well, I went back to Jerusalem. What did you do there? I had a presence before the king. The king. What did he say? He asked me how the battle was going. How’s Joab and how you soldiers are doing? No, really. Tell us. What did you go there for? That was it. Shortly thereafter, instructions had been given. Very strange instructions that we’re going to attack the walls of this city. That was not done in ancient battle. In fact, history had recounted a grave deaths that had resulted. Abimelech, someone had thrown a rock over the wall in such a silly attack and killed him. And so they must, Uriah and other soldiers must have been thinking, what are we doing?

Why are we attacking a walled city? But again, a soldier obeys command. Somewhere in the thick in the heat of the battle, because Uriah found himself in the fiercest part of the fighting. Uriah would have felt a stinging and a pain. Being a seasoned soldier, he would have known exactly what that was. And having witnessed many people die on the battlefield, he would have surely quickly known. It’s my time.

But maybe he thought these thoughts.

Maybe a little tinge of regret that he didn’t go home. Because he’ll never see his beautiful wife again. Surely he thought of her. Tried to picture. Unlike modern day soldiers, he wouldn’t have a picture of her in his breast pocket. So he surely tried to picture what she looked like. What she smelled like, what she felt like. Maybe he thought about her future. I hope she’ll be able to carry on. I hope she’ll meet somebody someday and be able to remarry. I love her so much. She’s been faithful, honorable, and true while I’ve been away on the battlefield. And then he finally would have breathed his last and died. You see, it’s a very different story told from the vantage point of the victim here, isn’t it?

2. Uriah Was a Good Man

From the vantage point of Uriah. And while we’re not told a whole lot about this man, I would argue for this morning that what we do know about Uriah is good. Uriah is mentioned in 2 Samuel chapter 11. His name will come up again in 2 Samuel chapter 23, but just in a list of soldiers. But everything that’s said about him in the scriptures is good. The prophet who would confront David will compare him to an umble neighbor. His wife Bathsheba will mourn his death. In 2 Samuel chapter 23, he’s not just listed in a list of soldiers. 2 Samuel 23 tells us that he was in the elite of the soldiers of the army of Israel. The top 37 soldiers. By today’s standards, he would have been an army ranger or a navy SEAL or a green beret.

I would argue that he was a good man. But he was in a wicked world. Let’s think about what we do know about Uriah the Hittite. I think you could argue that he was a brave man. It’s brave just to be a soldier. To be a soldier in an ancient army where many times it was nothing more than hand to hand combat. Took great bravery. You don’t get to be in the top 37 of one of the most powerful armies in the world without being brave. Uriah must have been a brave soldier and a brave man. Another thing we figure out about him in this text is that he was loyal. His two refusals to go back home were partly because he said, My fellow soldiers are still on the battlefield.

He couldn’t bring himself to enjoy the comforts of home, knowing that he would have to go back and look them in the eye. And so he said, as long as they’re sleeping on the ground on the battlefield, I won’t go back home. Now that’s a loyal friend. But I think we can figure out one other thing about Uriah. Is that he was concerned about the things of God. Have you turned to the text in 2 Samuel 11? Look what he says in verse 11. David says to him, Go home, see your wife. Look at Uriah’s reply in 2 Samuel 11, verse 11. He says, The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my Lord Joab and the servants of my Lord are encamped in the open fields.

Shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing. Yes, he was loyal to his friends and fellow soldiers, but what was the first thing that he mentioned? The ark. The Ark of God, the Ark of the Covenant, we sometimes call it. It was on the battlefield. And he said, as long as the soldiers, yes, but first, as long as the Ark of God is on the battlefield, I will not do this thing. As my soul lives and as your soul lives, I won’t do it. He was concerned about the Ark of God, which represented the presence of God. And so he was concerned about God and the things of God.

3. That Can Be You

Lesson number one. That can be you. You can be brave. Notice what Paul said in the New Testament, in the book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 16. You know, it might surprise us to know how much the scriptures have to say about bravery. 1 Corinthians chapter 16, to those Christians there who lived in a very ungodly and immoral time in a very ungodly and immoral city. This admonition was given. 1 Corinthians 16, verse 13, it says, Watch. Stand fast in the faith. Be brave. Be strong. We said that being a soldier requires bravery. Being an ancient soldier in ancient warfare required bravery. Paul is saying being a soldier in the army of God requires bravery. Be brave. We won’t turn over there, but you’ll remember in the book of Revelation when it talks about the occupants of that lake of fire and brimstone, that among the heinous sins that are mentioned is one category of people that are simply known as the cowardly.

The cowardly.

That I’ll assemble with the saints. I’ll do what I need to do. I will do my part in the kingdom because my fellow soldiers are on the battlefield, sleeping in tents. And you be you can be concerned about the things of God as well. Jesus said, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Seek ye first. You can be concerned. And notice that all of this, particularly the concern for the things of God. Think about who we’re talking about here. Uriah. What was Uriah’s last name? The Hittite. That means he was from the nation of the Hittites. He wasn’t a native Israelite. We don’t know at what point he became an Israelite, how he got in the army of God, how he learned about the Ark of the Covenant, how he learned about God, but he did.

4. A Good Man in a Wicked World

And so just because you weren’t, quote, raised in the church doesn’t mean that you can’t be a soldier in the army of God. That you can’t be one of the elite soldiers in the army of God. And that you can’t seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. So Uriah, I would argue, is a good man. But he was in a wicked world. And that wicked world has its way with him. You know, sometimes, many times, bad things happen to good people, don’t they? You know, in a perfect world, Uriah would have been rewarded for his bravery, his loyalty, being concerned about the things of God. In a perfect world, that trip back to the capital would have resulted in a promotion, in a medal upon his chest.

But Uriah didn’t live in a perfect world, did he?

Look what being a good, brave, loyal, and concerned about the things of God. What it got Uriah. He got him killed. And when we think about Uriah and the things that resulted in his from his bravery, loyalty and concern for the things of God. The first step was David tried to get him to lower his standards. Even after the stated reason of why he wouldn’t go back home, David said, Why don’t you? And then he tried to get him drunk so that he would lower his inhibitions and give away some of that bravery and loyalty and concern for God. And when Uriah wouldn’t go along and wouldn’t compromise, David had him killed. That’s all that was on that battlefield. Oh, it was orchestrated, it was complex, but it was nothing but the out and out murder.

And think about this. The horrible injustices that happened to Uriah didn’t happen to him in spite of him being a good man. They happened to him because he was a good man. If he’d have been less brave, certainly if he’d have been less loyal and concerned about the things of God, he could have lived. Oh, he would have been an ignorant dupe, but he still would have lived. Everything that happened to him happened to him because he was a good man. And I’ve got some bad news for you. That could be you. You could do everything right. And people won’t appreciate it. You know, Uriah was completely naive in this situation. All indications are that he died on that battlefield absolutely clueless as to what was going on at home.

Absolutely clueless as to what those instructions were that he brought back to Joab. Absolutely clueless as to why they were doing this fell-hardy military attempt to overtake a walled city. He was completely naive. And you know, good people are kind of that way sometimes, aren’t we? We obey the gospel and think I’m going to leave the world and do what’s right, and I know the world probably won’t come along with me, but they’ll appreciate that I made a stand. And they’ll respect me for standing up for my principles. Wrong. Look what Jesus said in John chapter 15. That we must be aware. Now, don’t lose your goodness. Don’t lose your innocence, but also don’t be naive as to what the world’s reaction is going to be.

John 15, verse 20, Jesus tried to warn us. John 15, verse 20 to his disciples before he left this earth. He said, Remember the word that I said to you. A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. Jesus tried to warn us. If you do what’s right, you keep your nose clean. You just try to stand up for God and his principles. You be brave and loyal and concerned for the things of God. And you know what that’ll get you? People will try to get you to lower your standards. And when you refuse to lower your standards, listen to the warning of Uriah. When you refuse to lower your standards, they’ll try to destroy you. Bad things happen to good people.

5. Do It Anyway

That’s the bad news, but what’s the good news? This is the good news. Do it anyway. Now we don’t know much about Uriah, so I don’t want to speculate too much here. I don’t know what Uriah would say if we had an audience with him this morning. What do you think? Uriah? What would you do if you had to do over again? Would you be a little bit of a coward? Would you not care so much about your fellow soldiers on the battlefield? Would you lose some of that loyalty? Would you have forgotten just for a moment about the ark of I don’t know what Uriah would have said. But I know what some others would say. What about Paul? The Apostle Paul, who we talked earlier about the scars that he had on his body, that he could even say, I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

You can have an audience with Paul this morning and say, Paul, look what being an apostle got you. Everywhere you went, people mistreated you. They beat you, they stoned you. Would you do it again? I think we feel fairly confident of what Paul’s response would be. What about those in Hebrews chapter 11? Turn over there with me. After going through a list of faithful people by name, the Hebrew writer kind of summarizes those unnamed people at the end of Hebrews chapter 11. Start in verse 32. Hebrews 11, verse 32, what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouth of lions, became valiant in battle, turned the flight of the armies of the aliens.

Women received their death raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had received a mocking of scourgings, yes, of chains and imprisonments. They were stoned. They were sawn in two. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented. Why? Because they stood on the side of God. And what if we could have an audience with them this morning? And say, look what it got you here on earth. Would you do it again? What do you think they would say? I think the Hebrew writer tells us when he goes on in chapter 12 by saying, seeing that you are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us run the race.

Do it anyway. And you know, this is more than theoretical. The winds of change are coming. Some would say they’re already here. We’re going to have to make a stand. Where bravery is not just going to be words on a page. It’s going to be a real test in our life as to whether we’ll make a stand for God or not. To make a stand about the exclusivity of Christ in the scriptures and the church, to make a stand about men and women’s roles in marriage, and to make a stand about homosexuality, and to make a stand about other things. And it may cost us.

Conclusion

But Paul and those faithful in Hebrews chapter 11, and I believe Uriah himself would say, do it anyway. When evil men try to get you to lower your standards, and when you refuse, they seek to destroy you. Do it anyway. The question is, will you serve God? Will you make a stand even when it cost you and cost you dearly? You can do it. Don’t forget the eternal reward. Don’t forget that whatever may befall you on this earth will pale in comparison to the rewards of heaven. I think Uriah stands as an unfortunate example of what happens sometimes to good guys. But I think he forever models what so many others have modeled, and that is that we do it anyway, because our reward’s not here.

And that we don’t fear what man can do to us when we put our trust, our lives, and our very souls in the hands of God. Will you make a stand this morning? To be brave, to be loyal, to be concerned about the things of God. Why not make that stand right now? It’ll cost you, but it’ll be worth it. Why not make the most important decision of your life to show bravery and loyalty and concern for the things of God this morning? If we can help you in any spiritual way, why not let it be known right now as we stand and as we sing?