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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>S E C O N D S A M U E L</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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What David said of the mournful report of Saul's death may more fitly
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be applied to the sad story of this chapter, the adultery and murder
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David was guilty of.--"Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the
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streets of Ashkelon." We wish we could draw a veil over it, and that it
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might never be known, might never be said, that David did such things
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as are here recorded of him. But it cannot, it must not, be concealed.
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The scripture is faithful in relating the faults even of those whom it
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most applauds, which is an instance of the sincerity of the penmen, and
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an evidence that it was not written to serve any party: and even such
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stories as these "were written for our learning," that "he that thinks
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he stands may take heed lest he fall," and that others' harms may be
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our warnings. Many, no doubt, have been emboldened to sin, and hardened
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in it, by this story, and to them it is a "savour of death unto death;"
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but many have by it been awakened to a holy jealousy over themselves,
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and constant watchfulness against sin, and to them it is a "savour of
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life unto life." Those are very great sins, and greatly aggravated,
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which here we find David guilty of.
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I. He committed adultery with Bath-sheba, the wife of Uriah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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II. He endeavoured to father the spurious brood upon Uriah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:6-13">ver. 6-13</A>.
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III. When that project failed, he plotted the death of Uriah by the
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sword of the children of Ammon, and effected it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:14-25">ver. 14-25</A>.
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IV. He married Bath-sheba,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:26,27">ver. 26, 27</A>.
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Is this David? Is this the man after God's own heart? How is his
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behaviour changed, worse than it was before Ahimelech! How has this
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gold become dim! Let him that readeth understand what the best of men
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are when God leaves them to themselves.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>David's Sin with Bath-sheba.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1037.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time
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when kings go forth <I>to battle,</I> that David sent Joab, and his
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servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the
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children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still
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at Jerusalem.
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2 And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from
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off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and
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from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman <I>was</I>
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very beautiful to look upon.
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3 And David sent and enquired after the woman. And <I>one</I> said,
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<I>Is</I> not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah
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the Hittite?
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4 And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto
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him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her
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uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.
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5 And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I
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<I>am</I> with child.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. David's glory, in pursuing the war against the Ammonites,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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We cannot take that pleasure in viewing this great action which
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hitherto we have taken in observing David's achievements, because the
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beauty of it was stained and sullied by sin; otherwise we might take
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notice of David's wisdom and bravery in following his blow. Having
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routed the army of the Ammonites in the field, as soon as ever the
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season of the year permitted he sent more forces to waste the country
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and further to avenge the quarrel of his ambassadors. Rabbah, their
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metropolis, made a stand, and held out a great while. To this city Joab
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laid close siege, and it was at the time of this siege that David fell
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into this sin.</P>
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<P>
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II. David's shame, in being himself conquered, and led captive by his
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own lust. The sin he was guilty of was adultery, against the letter of
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the seventh commandment, and (in the judgment of the patriarchal age) a
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heinous crime, and <I>an iniquity to be punished by the judges</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:11">Job xxxi. 11</A>),
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a sin which <I>takes away the heart,</I> and <I>gets a man a wound and
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dishonour,</I> more than any other, and the <I>reproach of which is not
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wiped away.</I></P>
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<P>
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1. Observe the occasions which led to this sin.
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(1.) Neglect of his business. When he should have been abroad with his
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army in the field, fighting the battles of the Lord, he devolved the
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care upon others, and he himself <I>tarried still at Jerusalem,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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To the war with the Syrians David went in person,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+10:17"><I>ch.</I> x. 17</A>.
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Had he been now at his post at the head of his forces, he would have
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been out of the way of this temptation. When we are out of the way of
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our duty we are in the way of temptation.
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(2.) Love of ease, and the indulgence of a slothful temper: <I>He came
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off his bed at evening-tide,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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There he had dozed away the afternoon in idleness, which he should have
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spent in some exercise for his own improvement or the good of others.
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He used to pray, not only morning and evening, but at noon, in the day
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of his trouble: it is to be feared he had, this noon, omitted to do so.
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Idleness gives great advantage to the tempter. Standing waters gather
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filth. The bed of sloth often proves the bed of lust.
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(3.) A wandering eye: <I>He saw a woman washing herself,</I> probably
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from some ceremonial pollution, according to the law. The sin came in
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at the eye, as Eve's did. Perhaps he sought to see her, at least he did
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not practise according to his own prayer, <I>Turn away my eyes from
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beholding vanity,</I> and his son's caution in a like case, <I>Look not
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thou on the wine it is red.</I> Either he had not, like Job, <I>made a
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covenant with his eyes,</I> or, at this time, he had forgotten it.</P>
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<P>
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2. The steps of the sin. When he saw her, lust immediately conceived,
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and,
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(1.) He enquired who she was
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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perhaps intending only, if she were unmarried, to take her to wife, as
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he had taken several; but, if she were a wife, having no design upon
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her.
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(2.) The corrupt desire growing more violent, though he was told she
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was a wife, and whose wife she was, yet he sent messengers for her, and
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then, it may be, intended only to please himself with her company and
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conversation. But,
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(3.) When she came <I>he lay with her,</I> she too easily consenting,
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because he was a great man, and famed for his goodness too. Surely
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(thinks she) that can be no sin which such a man as David is the mover
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of. See how the way of sin is down-hill; when men begin to do evil they
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cannot soon stop themselves. <I>The beginning</I> of lust, as <I>of
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strife, is like the letting forth of water;</I> it is therefore wisdom
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to leave it off before it be meddled with. The foolish fly fires her
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wings, and fools away her life at last, by playing about the
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candle.</P>
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<P>
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3. The aggravations of the sin.
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(1.) He was now in years, fifty at least, some think more, when those
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lusts which are more properly youthful, one would think, should not
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have been violent in him,
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(2.) He had many wives and concubines of his own; this is insisted on,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+12:8"><I>ch.</I> xii. 8</A>.
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(3.) Uriah, whom he wronged, was one of his own worthies, a person of
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honour and virtue, one that was now abroad in his service, hazarding
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his life in the high places of the field for the honour and safety of
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him and his kingdom, where he himself should have been.
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(4.) Bath-sheba, whom he debauched, was a lady of good reputation, and,
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till she was drawn by him and his influence into this wickedness, had
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no doubt preserved her purity. Little did she think that ever she could
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have done so bad a thing as to <I>forsake the guide of her youth, and
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forget the covenant of her God;</I> nor perhaps could any one in the
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world but David have prevailed against her. The adulterer not only
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wrongs and ruins his own soul, but, as much as he can, another's soul
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too.
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(5.) David was a king, whom God had entrusted with the sword of justice
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and the execution of the law upon other criminals, particularly upon
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adulterers, who were, by the law, to be put to death; for him therefore
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to be guilty of those crimes himself was to make himself a pattern,
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when he should have been a terror, to evil doers. With what face could
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he rebuke or punish that in others which he was conscious to himself of
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being guilty of? See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+2:22">Rom. ii. 22</A>.
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Much more might be said to aggravate the sin; and I can think but of
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one excuse for it, which is that it was done but once; it was far from
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being his practice; it was by the surprise of a temptation that he was
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drawn into it. He was not one of those of whom the prophet complains
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that <I>they were as fed horses, neighing every one after his
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neighbour's wife</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+5:8">Jer. v. 8</A>);
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but this once God left him to himself, as he did Hezekiah, <I>that he
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might know what was in his heart,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+32:31">2 Chron. xxxii. 31</A>.
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Had he been told of it before, he would have said, as Hazael, <I>What!
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is thy servant a dog?</I> But by this instance we are taught what need
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we have to pray every day, <I>Father, in heaven, lead us not into
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temptation,</I> and to watch, that we enter not into it.</P>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>David's Contrivance to Hide His Crime; David's Contrivance Defeated.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1037.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>6 And David sent to Joab, <I>saying,</I> Send me Uriah the Hittite.
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And Joab sent Uriah to David.
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7 And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded <I>of him</I> how
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Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered.
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8 And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy
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feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there
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followed him a mess <I>of meat</I> from the king.
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9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the
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servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.
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10 And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down
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unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from <I>thy</I>
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journey? why <I>then</I> didst thou not go down unto thine house?
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11 And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah,
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abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord,
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are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house,
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to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? <I>as</I> thou livest,
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and <I>as</I> thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing.
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12 And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to
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morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that
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day, and the morrow.
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13 And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before
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him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his
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bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his
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house.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Uriah, we may suppose, had now been absent from his wife some weeks,
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making the campaign in the country of the Ammonites, and not intending
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to return till the end of it. The situation of his wife would <I>bring
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to light the hidden works of darkness;</I> and when Uriah, at his
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return, should find how he had been abused, and by whom, it might well
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be expected,
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1. That he would prosecute his wife, according to law, and have her
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stoned to death; for <I>jealousy is the rage of a man,</I> especially a
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man of honour, and he that is thus injured <I>will not spare in the day
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of vengeance,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+6:34">Prov. vi. 34</A>.
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This Bath-sheba was apprehensive of when she sent to let David know she
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was with child, intimating that he was concerned to protect her, and,
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it is likely, if he had not promised her so to do (so wretchedly
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abusing his royal power), she would not have consented to him. Hope of
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impunity is a great encouragement to iniquity.
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2. It might also be expected that since he could not prosecute David by
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law for an offence of this nature he would take his revenge another
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way, and raise a rebellion against him. There have been instances of
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kings who by provocations of this nature, given to some of their
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powerful subjects, have lost their crowns. To prevent this double
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mischief, David endeavours to father the child which should be born
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upon Uriah himself, and therefore sends for him home to stay a night or
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two with his wife. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. How the plot was laid. Uriah must come home from the army under
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pretence of bringing David an account <I>how the war prospered,</I> and
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how they went on with the siege of Rabbah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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Thus does he pretend a more than ordinary concern for his army when
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that was the least thing in his thoughts; if he had not had another
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turn to serve, an express of much less figure than Uriah might have
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sufficed to bring him a report of the state of the war. David, having
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had as much conference with Uriah as he thought requisite to cover the
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design, sent him to his house, and, that he might be the more pleasant
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there with the wife of his youth, sent a dish of meat after him for
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their supper,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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When that project failed the first night, and Uriah, being weary of his
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journey and more desirous of sleep than meat, lay all night in the
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guard-chamber, the next night <I>he made him drunk</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
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or made him merry, tempted him to drink more than was fit, that he
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might forget his vow
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
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and might be disposed to go home to his own bed, to which perhaps, if
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David could have made him dead drunk, he would have ordered him to be
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carried. It is a very wicked thing, upon any design whatsoever, to make
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a person drunk. <I>Woe to him</I> that does so,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+2:15,16">Hab. ii. 15, 16</A>.
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God will put a cup of trembling into the hands of those who put into
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the hands of others the cup of drunkenness. Robbing a man of his reason
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is worse than robbing him of his money, and drawing him into sin worse
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than drawing him into any trouble whatsoever. Every good man,
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especially every magistrate, should endeavour to prevent this sin, by
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admonishing, restraining, and denying the glass to those whom they see
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falling into excess; but to further it is to do the devil's work, to
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officiate as factor for him.</P>
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<P>
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II. How this plot was defeated by Uriah's firm resolution not to lie in
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his own bed. Both nights he slept with the life-guard, and <I>went not
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down to his house,</I> though, it is probable, his wife pressed him to
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do it as much as David,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:9,12"><I>v.</I> 9, 12</A>.
|
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Now,
|
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|
|
1. Some think he suspected what was done, being informed of his wife's
|
|
attendance at court, and therefore he would not go near her. But if he
|
|
had had any suspicion of that kind, surely he would have opened the
|
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letter that David sent by him to Joab.
|
|
|
|
2. Whether he suspected any thing or no, Providence put this
|
|
resolution into his heart, and kept him to it, for the discovering of
|
|
David's sin, and that the baffling of his design to conceal it might
|
|
awaken David's conscience to confess it and repent of it.
|
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|
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3. The reason he gave to David for this strange instance of self-denial
|
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and mortification was very noble,
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
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While the army was encamped in the field, he would not lie at ease in
|
|
his own house. "The ark is in a tent," whether at home, in the tent
|
|
David had pitched for it, or abroad, with Joab in the camp, is not
|
|
certain. "Joab, and all the mighty men of Israel, lie hard and uneasy,
|
|
and much exposed to the weather and to the enemy; and shall I go and
|
|
take my ease and pleasure at my own house?" No, he protests he will not
|
|
do it. Now,
|
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|
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(1.) This was in itself a generous resolution, and showed Uriah to be a
|
|
man of a public spirit, bold and hardy, and mortified to the delights
|
|
of sense. In times of public difficulty and danger it does not become
|
|
us to repose ourselves in security, or roll ourselves in pleasure, or,
|
|
with the king and Haman, to sit down to drink when the <I>city Shushan
|
|
was perplexed,</I>
|
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|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+3:15">Esth. iii. 15</A>.
|
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|
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We should voluntarily endure hardness when the church of God is
|
|
constrained to endure it.
|
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|
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(2.) It might have been of use to awaken David's conscience, and make
|
|
his heart to smite him for what he had done.
|
|
|
|
[1.] That he had basely abused so brave a man as Uriah was, a man so
|
|
heartily concerned for him and his kingdom, and that acted for him and
|
|
it with so much vigour.
|
|
|
|
[2.] That he was himself so unlike him. The consideration of the public
|
|
hardships and hazards kept Uriah from lawful pleasures, yet could not
|
|
keep David, though more nearly interested, from unlawful ones. Uriah's
|
|
severity to himself should have shamed David for his indulgence of
|
|
himself. The law was, <I>When the host goeth forth against the enemy
|
|
then,</I> in a special manner, <I>keep thyself from every wicked
|
|
thing,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+23:9">Deut. xxiii. 9</A>.
|
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Uriah outdid that law, but David violated it.</P>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_26"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Sa11_27"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>David Causes Uriah to Be Slain; David Informed of Uriah's Death.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1037.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>14 And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a
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|
letter to Joab, and sent <I>it</I> by the hand of Uriah.
|
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15 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.
|
|
16 And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he
|
|
assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men
|
|
<I>were.</I>
|
|
17 And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and
|
|
there fell <I>some</I> of the people of the servants of David; and
|
|
Uriah the Hittite died also.
|
|
18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the
|
|
war;
|
|
19 And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an
|
|
end of telling the matters of the war unto the king,
|
|
20 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?
|
|
21 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.
|
|
22 So the messenger went, and came and shewed David all that
|
|
Joab had sent him for.
|
|
23 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.
|
|
24 And the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy servants;
|
|
and <I>some</I> of the king's servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah
|
|
the Hittite is dead also.
|
|
25 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.
|
|
26 And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was
|
|
dead, she mourned for her husband.
|
|
27 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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
When David's project of fathering the child upon Uriah himself failed,
|
|
so that, in process of time, Uriah would certainly know the wrong that
|
|
had been done him, to prevent the fruits of his revenge, the devil put
|
|
it into David's heart to take him off, and then neither he nor
|
|
Bath-sheba would be in any danger (what prosecution could there be when
|
|
there was no prosecutor?), suggesting further that, when Uriah was out
|
|
of the way, Bath-sheba might, if he pleased, be his own for ever.
|
|
Adulteries have often occasioned murders, and one wickedness must be
|
|
covered and secured with another. The beginnings of sin are therefore
|
|
to be dreaded; for who knows where they will end? It is resolved in
|
|
David's breast (which one would think could never possibly have
|
|
harboured so vile a thought) that Uriah must die. That innocent,
|
|
valiant, gallant man, who was ready to die for his prince's honour,
|
|
must die by his prince's hand. David has sinned, and Bath-sheba has
|
|
sinned, and both against him, and therefore he must die; David
|
|
determines he must. Is this the man whose heart smote him because he
|
|
had cut off Saul's skirt? <I>Quantum mutatus ab illo!--But ah, how
|
|
changed!</I> Is this he that executed judgment and justice to all his
|
|
people? How can he now do so unjust a thing? See how fleshly lusts war
|
|
against the soul, and what devastations they make in that war; how they
|
|
blink the eyes, harden the heart, sear the conscience, and deprive men
|
|
of all sense of honour and justice. <I>Whoso committeth adultery with a
|
|
woman lacketh understanding</I> and quite loses it; <I>he that doth it
|
|
destroys his own soul,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+6:32">Prov. vi. 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
But, as the eye of the adulterer, so the hand of the murderer seeks
|
|
concealment,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+24:14,15">Job xxiv. 14, 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
Works of darkness hate the light. When David bravely slew Goliath it
|
|
was done publicly, and he gloried in it; but, when he basely slew
|
|
Uriah, it must be done clandestinely, for he is ashamed of it, and well
|
|
he may. Who would do a thing that he dare not own? The devil, having as
|
|
a poisonous serpent, put it into David's heart to murder Uriah, as a
|
|
subtle serpent he puts it into his head how to do it. Not as Absalom
|
|
slew Amnon, by commanding his servants to assassinate him, nor as Ahab
|
|
slew Naboth by suborning witnesses to accuse him, but by exposing him
|
|
to the enemy, a way of doing it which, perhaps, would not seem so
|
|
odious to conscience and the world, because soldiers expose themselves
|
|
of course. If Uriah had not been in that dangerous post, another must;
|
|
he has (as we say) a chance for his life; if he fight stoutly, he may
|
|
perhaps come off; and, if he die, it is in the field of honour, where a
|
|
soldier would choose to die; and yet all this will not save it from
|
|
being a wilful murder, of malice prepense.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Orders are sent to Joab to set Uriah in the front of the hottest
|
|
battle, and then to desert him, and abandon him to the enemy,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:14,15"><I>v.</I> 14, 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
This was David's project to take off Uriah, and it succeeded, as he
|
|
designed. Many were the aggravations of this murder.
|
|
|
|
1. It was deliberate. He took time to consider of it; and though he had
|
|
time to consider of it, for he wrote a letter about it, and though he
|
|
had time to have countermanded the order afterwards before it could be
|
|
put in execution, yet he persisted in it.
|
|
|
|
2. He sent the letter by Uriah himself, than which nothing could be
|
|
more base and barbarous, to make him accessory to his own death. And
|
|
what a paradox was it that he could bear such a malice against him in
|
|
whom yet he could repose such a confidence as that he would carry
|
|
letters which he must not know the purport of.
|
|
|
|
3. Advantage must be taken of Uriah's own courage and zeal for his king
|
|
and country, which deserve the greatest praise and recompence, to
|
|
betray him the more easily to his fate. If he had not been forward to
|
|
expose himself, perhaps he was a man of such importance that Joab could
|
|
not have exposed him; and that this noble fire should be designedly
|
|
turned upon himself was a most detestable instance of ingratitude.
|
|
|
|
4. Many must be involved in the guilt. Joab, the general, to whom the
|
|
blood of his soldiers, especially the worthies, ought to be precious,
|
|
must do it; he, and all that retire from Uriah when they ought in
|
|
conscience to support and second him, become guilty of his death.
|
|
|
|
5. Uriah cannot thus die alone: the party he commands is in danger of
|
|
being cut off with him; and it proved so: some of the people, even the
|
|
servants of David (so they are called, to aggravate David's sin in
|
|
being so prodigal of their lives), fell with him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nay, this wilful misconduct by which Uriah must be betrayed might be of
|
|
fatal consequence to the whole army, and might oblige them to raise the
|
|
siege.
|
|
|
|
6. It will be the triumph and joy of the Ammonites, the sworn enemies
|
|
of God and Israel; it will gratify them exceedingly. David prayed for
|
|
himself, that he might not fall into the hands of man, nor flee from
|
|
his enemies
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+24:13,14"><I>ch.</I> xxiv. 13, 14</A>);
|
|
|
|
yet he sells his servant Uriah to the Ammonites, and not for any
|
|
iniquity in his hand.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Joab executes these orders. In the next assault that is made upon
|
|
the city Uriah has the most dangerous post assigned him, is encouraged
|
|
to hope that if he be repulsed by the besieged he shall be relieved by
|
|
Joab, in dependence on which he marches on with resolution, but,
|
|
succours not coming on, the service proves too hot, and he is slain in
|
|
it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:16,17"><I>v.</I> 16, 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
It was strange that Joab would do such a thing merely upon a letter,
|
|
without knowing the reason. But,
|
|
|
|
1. Perhaps he supposed Uriah had been guilty of some great crime, to
|
|
enquire into which David had sent for him, and that, because he would
|
|
not punish him openly, he took this course with him to put him to
|
|
death.
|
|
|
|
2. Joab had been guilty of blood, and we may suppose it pleased him
|
|
very well to see David himself falling into the same guilt, and he was
|
|
willing enough to serve him in it, that he might continue to be
|
|
favourable to him. It is common for those who have done ill themselves
|
|
to desire to be countenanced therein by others doing ill likewise,
|
|
especially by the sins of those that are eminent in the profession of
|
|
religion. Or, perhaps, David knew that Joab had a pique against Uriah,
|
|
and would gladly be avenged on him; otherwise Joab, when he saw cause,
|
|
knew how to dispute the king's orders, as
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+19:5,24:3"><I>ch.</I> xix. 5; xxiv. 3</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He sends an account of it to David. An express is despatched away
|
|
immediately with a report of this last disgrace and loss which they had
|
|
sustained,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
And, to disguise the affair,
|
|
|
|
1. He supposes that David would appear to be angry at his bad conduct,
|
|
would ask why they came so near the wall
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
did they not know that Abimelech lost his life by doing do?
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
We had the story
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+9:53">Judg. ix. 53</A>),
|
|
|
|
which book, it is likely, was published as a part of the sacred history
|
|
in Samuel's time; and (be it noted to their praise, and for imitation)
|
|
even the soldiers were conversant with their bibles, and could readily
|
|
quote the scripture-story, and make use of it for admonition to
|
|
themselves not to run upon the same attempts which they found had been
|
|
fatal.
|
|
|
|
2. He slyly orders the messenger to soothe it with telling him that
|
|
Uriah the Hittite was dead also, which gave too broad an intimation to
|
|
the messenger, and by him to others, that David would be secretly
|
|
pleased to hear that; for murder will out. And, when men do such base
|
|
things, they must expect to be bantered and upbraided with them, even
|
|
by their inferiors. The messenger delivered his message agreeably to
|
|
orders,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:22-24"><I>v.</I> 22-24</A>.
|
|
|
|
He makes the besieged to sally out first upon the besiegers (<I>they
|
|
came out unto us into the field</I>), represents the besiegers as doing
|
|
their part with great bravery (<I>we were upon them even to the
|
|
entering of the gate</I>--we forced them to retire into the city with
|
|
precipitation), and so concludes with a slight mention of the slaughter
|
|
made among them by some shot from the wall: <I>Some of the king's
|
|
servants are dead,</I> and particularly <I>Uriah the Hittite,</I> an
|
|
officer of note, stood first in the list of the slain.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. David receives the account with a secret satisfaction,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
Let not Joab be displeased, for David is not. He blames not his
|
|
conduct, nor thinks they did wrong in approaching so near the wall; all
|
|
is well now that Uriah is put out of the way. This point being gained,
|
|
he can make light of the loss, and turn it off easily with an excuse:
|
|
<I>The sword devours one as well as another;</I> it was a chance of
|
|
war, nothing more common. He orders Joab to make the battle more strong
|
|
next time, while he, by his sin, was weakening it, and provoking God to
|
|
blast the undertaking.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. He marries the widow in a little time. She submitted to the ceremony
|
|
of mourning for her husband as short a time as custom would admit
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+11:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
and then David took her to his house as his wife, and she bore him a
|
|
son. Uriah's revenge was prevented by his death, but the birth of the
|
|
child so soon after the marriage published the crime. Sin will have
|
|
shame. Yet that was not the worst of it: <I>The thing that David had
|
|
done displeased the Lord.</I> The whole <I>matter of Uriah</I> (as it
|
|
is called,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+15:5">1 Kings xv. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
the adultery, falsehood, murder, and this marriage at last, it was all
|
|
displeasing to the Lord. He had pleased himself, but displeased God.
|
|
Note, God sees and hates sin in his own people. Nay, the nearer any are
|
|
to God in profession the more displeasing to him their sins are; for in
|
|
them there is more ingratitude, treachery, and reproach, than in the
|
|
sins of others. Let none therefore encourage themselves in sin by the
|
|
example of David; for those that sin as he did will fall under the
|
|
displeasure of God as he did. Let us therefore stand in awe and sin
|
|
not, not sin after the similitude of his transgression.</P>
|
|
|
|
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