Old Testament: 2Sa 11.22–25

To read the Bible in a year, read Second Samuel 10–12 on April 24, In the year of our Lord Christ 2023

By Don Ruhl 

David committed adultery with Bathsheba, then tried to get her husband to sleep with her so that it might look like he was the father of the baby that Bathsheba would deliver. That did not work, so David got his nephew, Joab, to put Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, in a place where he would be killed. When it was accomplished here is what the story says: 

So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent by him. And the messenger said to David, “Surely the men prevailed against us and came out to us in the field; then we drove them back as far as the entrance of the gate. The archers shot from the wall at your servants; and some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.’ So encourage him.”

– 2 Samuel 11.22–25 

Joab, who often killed when it was not necessary, could have been displeased apparently, or at least David thought that he might be displeased, so David told him not to let it bother him because, Hey, people die. 

That just is not the man that we read about earlier in the story. However, he had committed sin and tried to cover it up, and that is when people change and become evil. 

Questions: 

• What did David encourage Joab to continue to do? 
• Have you tried to cover your sin? 

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