II SAMUEL 11: URIAH'S SPEECH

Good morning, troops! (Good morning, captain.)

We need more spirit, act like a team if we are to win. And so I called you together for three reasons:

1) Some of you have been transferred in from other divisions and don't know me. You deserve to know the person who is leading you into battle.

2) But there have been recent grumblings and rumors among you. Don't deny it; I have my sources.

I want to lay these to rest because they are bad for morale.

3)You need to be filled in on the situation we will be facing in a few minutes.

So to start with: Who am I? My name is Uriah. My parents were Hittites but saw the power of God acting among you Israelites and became residents among you. They named me Uriah because it means “Yahweh is my light.” And that is not only my name but also my motto.

I was raised to be a soldier and joined our King David even before he was a king, during the time when he was being pursued by Saul. So I was one of “The Thirty,” David's chief warriors. My wife Bathsheba is the daughter of Eliam, who was also one of The Thirty. Some of you here may have once served under him.

I am presently the weapon bearer for Joab, our general.

I remain a close personal friend of David.

I am not telling you all of this merely to brag, but so that you can know you can have confidence in me as your leader.

That brings me to the second point – the rumors and grumbling. I know that the story is circulating that David and I have been enjoying ourselves in Jerusalem while you troops were here in Rabbah laying siege to the Ammonite capital. Let me set the story straight. I know that I don't owe you any explanations, but I don't want to go to battle with troops that aren't behind me 100%.

The reason I was called away from the front in the first place was that David wanted to hear from my own lips how the battle had been going because he was personally concerned with your welfare.

Some of you have been asking, “If he is so concerned, why isn't he with us.” Is he too old for battle; has he lost his nerve? It pains me to hear such talk. Remember that not long ago it was you soldiers who begged David not to go to battle because his life was too valuable to lose.

But he is concerned about every one of you soldiers. Just look how he treated me. After I reported to him, he urged me to go to my house immediately, relax and greet my wife Bathsheba who has been longing to see me again. Of course, I refused and slept that night outside the door of David's house.

You might say “Wasn't that disobeying a direct order of a superior?” Perhaps, but remember that we serve not only our country and king. Above all, we serve God. And in the law that God gave Moses it says, “When you go forth against your enemies and are in camp, then you shall keep yourself ritually clean.” I would have disobeyed that law by having relations with my wife.

Besides, I told David that as long as the ark is not in its permanent home and my troops are away from their homes, it would be unfair for me to enjoy myself at home. Actually I might be accused of plagiarism at this point since I was actually quoting back to David the words of one of his own psalms: “I will not enter my house or get into my bed, until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob!” David could not very well argue against his own words, but he did urge me to spend another day in Jerusalem and actually invited me over for dinner the next night. He wined and dined me royally and again tried to convince me to go home. I was sorely tempted but had enough self-control to sleep in the servants quarters that night.

Now, as to the third reason I called you together, I would like to outline our mission. When I told our king that I wished to re-join you troops at the front immediately, he gave me written orders to convey to our trusted General Joab. Of course, I did not read them since they were for Joab's eyes only. But I believe that David must have realized my desire to get into the thick of the battle, because after Joab read the letter for David, he told me our battle plans for today.

We have been laying siege to Rabbah for some time now, and we know that we can eventually starve them out. But the Ammonites have called on their allies and they may arrive soon. Therefore we are going to storm the city, and our division has been assigned to lead the charge.

I realize that this is a most dangerous maneuver. We will be vulnerable to arrows from above. And recall the siege of Thebez when Abimelech was killed by a millstone hurled from the walls of the city.

Now you can be assured that neither David nor Joab would purposely put you soldiers in undue jeopardy unless they knew that there was a good reason. And in addition, Joab has promised to give us good back-up support with his other divisions.

So God be with you all, and let's be careful out there.