Uriah – Praying Pint

200. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation.

2 Kings 24:1 In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldeans and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servants the prophets. Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord would not pardon

2 Kings 20:17    Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD.

2 Kings 21:12-14     therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.  And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.  And I will forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies,

Jeremiah 25:9   behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation.

Jeremiah 26:20     There was another man who prophesied in the name of the LORD, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land in words like those of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 32:28    Therefore, thus says the LORD: Behold, I am giving this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall capture it.

Micah 3:12    Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,

Deuteronomy 28:49-50   The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand,  a hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young.

Isaiah 13:5     They come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, the LORD and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.

Do you ever wonder how something like this could happen, how it could be foretold, how it could be proclaimed, and the people would not or did not believe it? Warnings were given by numerous prophets about the pending judgment that was coming and yet these warnings were not taken seriously. Why does God give warnings about pending judgment as a result of our actions that lead Him to wrath and anger, and we give no thought to it? Do we think the prophecies are just made up fairy tales, or that they do not pertain to us?

The actions of King Manasseh lead the people away from God, but the judgment cannot fall just on the king alone. The people willing followed after him down paths that disregarded God’s love and warnings. There are numerous warnings about pending judgment for all who do not confess sin, repent and turn away from their sinful nature, and trust in the redemption found in and through the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the cross. There are warnings and pending judgment coming to those who follow God with their mouth but not in their heart and mind. There are warnings and pending judgment coming to those who do not love and follow Jesus Christ with their whole heart, mind, and soul.

God’s grace, mercy, and love were demonstrated in and through Jesus Christ. If we choose to live in such a way that does not honor, glorify, worship, serve, follow, trust, and obey Jesus Christ then judgment is our reward with no redemption of our soul. There is a way to know if your whole heart, mind, and soul are loving Jesus Christ. If you thirst for His word, desire to have it speak into your heart and mind, long for His presence in all that you do and you are ever mindful of what you think, say, and do so as to do that which honors and glorifies Him, you meditate on His word, and you keep His word in your heart and mind, then you will know that this never-ending growth of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding is because you love and humbly serve Him with your whole heart, mind, and soul.

123. And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David,

2Samuel 12:15 And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he became sick. David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them. On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us. How then can we say to him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.” But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David understood that the child was dead. And David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” They said, “He is dead.” Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate. Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

How do we end up sinning – Sometimes we think of the natural consequences of sin and we fear it and so we don’t do that sin. That may be true, but perhaps we are ignorant, perhaps we were unwise, perhaps we were tempted, perhaps we’re even told to do it even when we know it was wrong as if we were coerced. No matter how it happened, our sin is not something we want to continue in our lives. You should love God so much that when you sin, you realize that you hurt God. You should love God so much that after you sin, you want to restore your relationship with God. God wants to get our attention. He wants to help us out of our failure, but we have to listen to Him when He warns us. God gives us the Holy Spirit as our warning system. The Holy Spirit tells us when we are doing something that is against God and His commands. Nothing messes up your relationship with God more than unconfessed sin. God wants to forgive your sin, but you have to come to Him and confess it.

Do not be blinded by neglect and complacency. Recognize sin and run from it. Sin always has consequences and unconfessed sin will eat away at your soul.

121. The time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab

2 Samuel 11:1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”

So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. 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. When they told David, “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?” Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, 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? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. And he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, then, if the king’s anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’”

So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.

Note; In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. David did not go as was accustom of all kings. He stayed back. He became complacent and neglecting of his role in God’s purpose for him. He made a decision, a choice, to neglect what God had called him to do. Remember what God said about David. “A man after God’s own heart”. If such a man can fall into sin through neglect and complacency, do we think we are not capable or need to be mindful of our sinful nature and how easily it can overtake our want and desire to humbly serve God? It will dilute our view of God, our ability to honor Him, and our want to follow and obey Him. We will no longer cling to Him, rely on Him, or trust in Him.

Joni Eareckson Tada – “We can’t afford to be complacent about God’s glory. The fact is that putting your Christian life on autopilot is the same thing as “walking in the flesh.” When we become unaware, when we take something so precious for granted, our prayers become tedious, witnessing becomes dry, jobs become lackluster, and relationships sag under the weight of selfishness. What’s worse, our communion with our Savior and best friend turns into a chore. The Lord Himself seems to lose vitality in our estimation; He becomes little more than a wooden icon in our hearts, a mere measuring rod for our behavior—someone who purchased our salvation once upon a time, someone in whom we believe in a general, distracted sort of way.”

Take a review of your life. Take all of your thoughts captive and place them in the light of God’s word. Expose each nerve ending to His word and become sensitive to sinful desires that want to make you walk apart from Him. Complacency and neglect are satan’s fruit and though it looks beautiful and tastes sweet it will rob you of the bread of life, the water of life, and the very breath of God in your life.

If His word is not in your life every day beware.

Secretly

“For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’” David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.”

Psalms 51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

2 Samuel 11:2-27 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.” So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. 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. When they told David, “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?” Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, 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? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. And he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, then, if the king’s anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’” So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.” When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.

Nehemiah 4:5 Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.

There is no sin that God does not know. There is nothing done in secret no matter what we may believe. Why is it that we close our eyes to our sin. Sometimes I think we are so far from humbly serving, trusting, honoring, and obeying God that we have shut the door to our heart, and having any ability to hear God speaking to our mind and soul. Scripture tells us that His word is sharper than a two edged sword and able to divide the intent and will of our soul. We fill this void with everything but God’s word. Do we think we will not be held accountable for neglect of His word? Christ went to the cross, suffered and died and rose again. He did this to redeem all who would believe in, trust in, and rely on His sacrificial redemption. He did this so that we would be made whole and white as snow. He did this so that we would have forgiveness of our sin and in this forgiveness have a victorious life, peace, joy, hope, rest, faith, strength, and power. This victorious life grows with knowledge and understanding of God’s word, warnings, and promises. Our faith grows in line with the amount of time in His word, prayer, and obeying the still quiet voice speaking into our life in alignment with His word. Staying in His word speaks to our heart and soul. Apart from His word we allow the culture we live speak into our lives and nothing truly good comes from this. Commit to being in His word today. Stay in it, read it often, think about what you have read, and obey His leading.